Good Morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],

Agriculture has, for thousands of years, been India’s foremost advantage—the reason why the region has been among the world’s most densely populated for much of history. 

And despite recent popular perception that it’s inefficient and a labour sink, there have been some impressive strides in the sector over the last few years, contributing to improvements in areas like food security and affordability.

View in Browser

While agriculture’s share in the country’s economic output has fallen, farm exports doubled to over $48 billion during the decade ending FY24. That’s 2.5X more than the other goods India exported during the same period, and nearly as much as the growth in its vaunted services exports. This gives India heft in the global market, at a scale unrivalled by most other sectors, noted my colleague Seetharaman G in this April edition of Make India Competitive Again.

Bharat Shining: India’s farms are its biggest trade weapon

Agriculture has given the country the kind of leverage it desperately seeks through manufacturing

Read now

Bharat Shining: India’s farms are its biggest trade weapon

Agriculture has given the country the kind of leverage it desperately seeks through manufacturing

Read now

This strong agri-muscle—and the farmers behind it—is also why farm tariffs have turned out to be such a major sticking point in the ongoing India-US trade talks. Currently, India levies close to 40% tariffs on US agricultural imports. The US wants that slashed to 5%—roughly the levy Indian farm exports are charged in America. 

India, unsurprisingly, doesn’t seem willing to back down. At the end of June, the country’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that agriculture, along with dairy, were two “very big red lines” in the negotiations.

All that to say—agriculture is important to India. 

Which only makes its failures all the more weighty. 

In this week’s edition of The Collection, we present stories exploring the Indian farm sector, its vast potential, and some of the policy and business missteps that have held it back this long. 

Agriculture’s slice in the employment pie has actually grown over these last few years. In FY24, it was responsible for 46% of employment, up from 44% in FY18, per the government’s latest Economic Survey.

This isn’t exactly cause for celebration, because agricultural labour productivity in India remains far below other important sectors.

Ironic, then, that the government celebrated rising female workforce participation last November, a good portion of which was driven by women working in “family-oriented economic activities”—the category that covers unpaid labour on family farms.

The elusive women powering India’s economy

The oddities of official data present a narrative rosier than reality

Read now

The elusive women powering India’s economy

The oddities of official data present a narrative rosier than reality

Read now

That’s not to say all of modern Indian agriculture (and allied sectors) is small farms worked by cash-strapped families. In recent years, some of India’s biggest conglomerates have broken into segments that were previously dominated by small businesses and farmers—such as organic foods. 

Tata and ITC are harvesting what small organic-food brands cultivated for years

Conscious consumers are gravitating toward organic food. But, with a mix of small to mid-sized brands and FMCG majors, the playing field is far from level

Read now

Tata and ITC are harvesting what small organic-food brands cultivated for years

Conscious consumers are gravitating toward organic food. But, with a mix of small to mid-sized brands and FMCG majors, the playing field is far from level

Read now

There have also been a slew of startups and new ventures that have tried to bring technology to bear on the challenge. Agritech, though, hasn’t always lived up to its early hype, or turned much profit. And some are now pivoting away from their original missions. 

Waycool, for instance, launched with the bold promise of fixing India’s broken food supply chains by connecting farmers directly to consumers. Yet today, it’s shifted focus to consumer goods and SaaS solutions. 

Waycool’s pivot and the false promise of agritech

The US$700 million-worth startup wanted to reshape the food supply chain. But it increasingly looks like an FMCG company

Read now

Waycool’s pivot and the false promise of agritech

The US$700 million-worth startup wanted to reshape the food supply chain. But it increasingly looks like an FMCG company

Read now

Underlying much of these setbacks is a history of inconsistent policies, and even outright policy mistakes, that have made life harder for India’s agriculture sector. 

Take saffron, for example. Cultivation in Kashmir (India’s sole growing region) has plunged over 60% since 2011, dropping to just 2.7 tonnes in 2024. 

This is because unlike tea or cardamom, India never built a sustainable saffron economy. Now, with global demand rising, driven by its increasing use in nutraceuticals and cosmetics, saffron could turn out to be a huge lost opportunity. 

Kashmir’s saffron is priceless. For some, it’s increasingly worthless

Climate change has only exacerbated Kashmir’s saffron economy that suffers from market fragmentation, quality dilution, and empty government promises

Read now

Kashmir’s saffron is priceless. For some, it’s increasingly worthless

Climate change has only exacerbated Kashmir’s saffron economy that suffers from market fragmentation, quality dilution, and empty government promises

Read now

That’s all for this week. As always, you can share your thoughts and feedback by writing to [email protected], or leaving a comment on our app or website.

Get a premium subscription to The Ken

Unrivaled analysis and powerful stories about businesses from award-winning journalists. Read by 5,00,000+ subscribers globally who want to be prepared for what comes next.

Upgrade Now

Trusted by 5,00,000+ executives & leaders from the world's most successful organisations & students at top post-graduate campuses

The Collection

Seetharaman G    Bharat Shining: India’s farms are its biggest trade weapon Agriculture has given the country the kind of leverage it desperately seeks through manufacturing

Seetharaman G    Bharat Shining: India’s farms are its biggest trade weapon Agriculture has given the country the kind of leverage it desperately seeks through manufacturing

Seetharaman G    The elusive women powering India’s economy The oddities of official data present a narrative rosier than reality

Seetharaman G    The elusive women powering India’s economy The oddities of official data present a narrative rosier than reality

Shristi Achar    Tata and ITC are harvesting what small organic-food brands cultivated for years Conscious consumers are gravitating toward organic food. But, with a mix of small to mid-sized brands and FMCG majors, the playing field is far from level

Shristi Achar    Tata and ITC are harvesting what small organic-food brands cultivated for years Conscious consumers are gravitating toward organic food. But, with a mix of small to mid-sized brands and FMCG majors, the playing field is far from level

Narayanan V    Waycool’s pivot and the false promise of agritech The US$700 million-worth startup wanted to reshape the food supply chain. But it increasingly looks like an FMCG company

Narayanan V    Waycool’s pivot and the false promise of agritech The US$700 million-worth startup wanted to reshape the food supply chain. But it increasingly looks like an FMCG company

D V L S Pranathi    Vegrow takes on Ninjacart and Dehaat with two fruits. Just two In an agritech landscape where startups try to be everything to everyone, the four-year-old startup proves that mastering pomegranates and bananas could be more profitable than juggling the entire produce

D V L S Pranathi    Vegrow takes on Ninjacart and Dehaat with two fruits. Just two In an agritech landscape where startups try to be everything to everyone, the four-year-old startup proves that mastering pomegranates and bananas could be more profitable than juggling the entire produce

Mehroob Mushtaq   Numan Bhat    Kashmir’s saffron is priceless. For some, it’s increasingly worthless Climate change has only exacerbated Kashmir’s saffron economy that suffers from market fragmentation, quality dilution, and empty government promises

Mehroob Mushtaq   Numan Bhat    Kashmir’s saffron is priceless. For some, it’s increasingly worthless Climate change has only exacerbated Kashmir’s saffron economy that suffers from market fragmentation, quality dilution, and empty government promises