Although agriculture is the largest provider of employment  in the state (about 56 percent), its contribution to the state economy is declining steadily over the years. According to some experts, it is barely 15 percent at present. This has happened for two reasons. First is the unfavourable agro-climatic situation and secondly, faster growth in other sectors, especially the service sector. Nearly one-third of the state’s part is under rain-shadow region. In these areas, only dry cultivation is possible. Though the area under agriculture in Maharashtra is much more than the national average, (57 and 43 percent), the proportion of gross area irrigated to gross cropped area is much less. During the last two decades, the production of food grains has increased from 87 lakh tons to 129 lakh tons. Growth for other crops is as follows — Oilseeds 10 lakh tons to 37 lakh tons; Sugarcane 233 lakh tons to 663 lakh tons and Cotton 20 lakh bales to 46 lakh bales. Despite this phenomenal increase, the productivity of most crops is much below when compared with other states and with the all–India average. The yield of food grains per hectare in the state (924 kg) was far below the national average (1716 kg) in 2005-06. The productivity of cotton was the lowest among all the states in that year.

The state has drawn an Action Plan which will provide online access to all kinds of land records and digitised maps to the farmers and financial institutions so as to facilitate advancement of various loans and insurance packages. Reclamation of saline soils, quality seed production, increasing productivity of crops and overall soil health management will be taken up under a 7-year plan. Reducing cost of cultivation and seed requirements, adopting sustainable technology for fertilizers, early warning of pests and diseases, encouraging mechanization, risk mitigation, promotion of inter- cropping and mixed cropping to avoid risk of failure of the main crop are some of the short-term objectives.

During the period 1990-91 to 2012-13, the area under food grain cultivation sharply reduced from 144 lakh hectares to 108 lakh hectares. Consequently, the total food grain production in the period dropped from 122 lakh tons to 112 lakh tons. This situation has serious implications for the rural poor. Among the cash crops, both the area and production of groundnut has sharply declined in these two decades — the area from 8.64 lakh hectares to 3.95 lakh hectares and the production from 9.79 lakh tons to 4.70 lakh tons. The area under cultivation and production of cotton also increased in these two decades  – the area rose from 27.21 lakh hectares to 39.42 lakh hectares and the production, too, jumped up manifold. The largest increase was for sugarcane. The area under sugarcane nearly doubled from 5.36 lakh hectares to 10.41 lakh hectares and the production increased from 381.54 lakh tons to 856.91 lakh tons. There was some increase in the cultivated area and production of crops like soyabean, too. The production of fruits and vegetables was limited mostly to irrigated areas while milk production, animal husbandry, poultry and fishing continued to supplement farm incomes. However, there is tremendous scope to augment this productivity, in terms of newer areas and more beneficiaries.

According to projections made by the agriculture department, kharip crops were estimated to take up about 90 percent or 15 million hectares of the total 16.7 million hectares of cultivable area. Rabi and summer crops were estimated to be grown on 5.2 million hectares. Production of foodgrains had reported 39 percent rise in 2021-22 at 16.5 million tons. Maharashtra witnessed a slight drop in farm production in 2021-22, at 22.3 million tons, compared to 23.4 million tons the year before.

Expecting a satisfactory rainfall, the state government expected the production of foodgrains, including pulses and cereals, to go up by more than 25 percent to 10.5 million tons in 2022-23 from 8.2 million tons in the previous year. Similarly, the oilseeds production could increase by more than 20 percent to 6.9 million tons from 5.7 million tons in 2021-22.

The rainfall in 2022 was above normal but unevenly distributed, in terms of duration and geographical area it covered. As in the past, the quantitative and qualitative presence of rains continues to be a major factor in India’s rural economy. Even when both, governmental procurement and market factors are favourable, indicating higher kharif rice production, the reality turned out to be different since scattered and deficient rainfall was experienced in major producer states. This resulted in farmers shifting towards region specific and more profitable alternate crops like pulses and oilseeds in these areas. Similarly, cotton is seen to dominate in the states where  pulses and oilseed production used to be the mainstay. Now, cotton has gained a larger share in the overall acreage and production on account of higher prices for the crop. Excess rains during September and October 2022 upset many calculations as damage was suffered by standing crops. Its impact and extent are still not become available.

Maharashtra can look forward to becoming a better place if its strides in agricultural sector are planned and executive effectively. The biggest gain will be to arrest the migration from rural to urban areas. Political will and increased awareness can make this possible.