From a nation dependent on food imports to feed its population, India today is not only self--sufficient in grain production, but also has a substantial reserve. The progress made by agriculture in the last four decades has been one of the biggest success stories of free India. Agriculture and allied activities constitute the single largest contributor to the Gross Domestic Product, almost 33% of it. Agriculture is the means of livelihood of about two-thirds of the work force in the country.
This increase in agricultural production has been brought about by bringing additional area under cultivation, extension of irrigation facilities, the use of improved high yielding variety of seeds, better techniques evolved through agricultural research, water management, and plant protection through judicious use of fertilizers, pesticides and cropping practices.
Fertilizers
The fertilizer industry in India has grown tremendously in the last 30 years. The Government is keen to see that fertilizer reaches the farmers in the remote and hilly areas. It has been decided to decontrol the prices, distribution and movement of phosphatic and potassic fertilizers. Steps have been taken to ensure an increase in the supply of non-chemical fertilizers at reasonable prices. There are 53 fertilizer quality control laboratories in the country. Since bio-fertilisers are regarded as an effective, cheap and renewable supplement to chemical fertilizers, the Government is implementing a National Project on Development and Use of Bio-fertilisers. Under this scheme, one national and six regional centers for organizing training, demonstrating programs and quality testing of bio-fertilisers has been taken up.
It was a challenging decision of the Government to take Bombay High gas through a 1,700-km pipeline to feed fertilizer plants located in the consumption centers of North India. However, the major policy which has ensured the growth of the fertilizer