Agriculture, along with its allied sectors, is the source of livelihood for almost half of India’s population. Having witnessed a green revolution, a white revolution, a yellow revolution, and a blue revolution, the share of the agriculture and allied sector in total GVA improved to 20.2 % in 2020-21 according to data from the Economic Survey 2022, at a growth rate of 3.6%.

In 2021, the total forest and tree cover in India was calculated to be 80.9 million hectares, occupying 24.62% of the geographical area of the country. While commercial forestry is still in a developing phase in India, it holds immense potential with regions like the Western Ghats, western Himalayas, and hilly areas of the country being the principal areas of commercial forestry.

The Indian Agriculture Export Policy 2018 aims to increase India’s agricultural export to USD60 billion by 2022, and India’s Agri exports crossed USD50 billion for the year 2021-22. To maximise production, there is an increased focus on building on India’s Agri tech capacities. The current market size of Agri tech, which includes AI-based start-ups in Agri innovation, is almost worth USD 204 million.

There are over 1300 agriculture startups in India that employ artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), the internet of things (IoT), etc. to increase efficiency and productivity in the sector. India also exported Agri-machinery worth USD1,024 million during 2019-20, of which 76.4% was exported to the UK, North America, Eastern Europe, EU, Africa, ASEAN, and SAARC countries.