Agriculture suffers from following problems :-

1. Inequality in Land Distribution:

The distribution of agricultural land in India has not been fairly distributed. Rather there is a considerable degree of concentration of land holding among the rich landlords, farmers and money lenders throughout the country. But the vast majority of small farmers own a very small and uneconomic size of holdings, resulting to higher cost per units. Moreover, a huge number of landless cultivators has been cultivating on the land owned by the absentee landlords, leading to lack of incentives on the part of these cultivators.

2. Land Tenure System:

The land tenure system practiced in India is suffering from lot of defects. Insecurity of tenancy was a big problem for the tenants, particularly during the pre- independence period. Although the land tenure system has been improving during the post-independence period after the introduction of various land reforms measures but the problem of insecurity of tenancy and eviction still prevails to some extent due to the presence of absentee landlords and benami transfer of land in various states of the country.

3. Sub-division and Fragmentation of holdings:

In India, the average size of holding is expected to decline from 1.5 hectares in 1990-91 to 1.3 hectares in 2000-01. Thus the size of agricultural holding is quite uneconomic, small and fragmented. There is continuous sub-division and fragmentation of agricultural land due to increasing pressure of population and breakdown of the joint family system and also due to forced selling of land for meeting debt repayment obligations. Thus the size of operational holdings has been declining year by year leading to increase in the number of marginal and small holdings and fall in the number of medium and large holdings.

4. Cropping Pattern:

The cropping pattern which shows the proportion of the area under different crops at a definite point of time is an important indicator of development and diversification of the sector. Food crops and non-food or cash crops arc the two types of crops produced by the agricultural sector of the country.

5. Instability and Fluctuations:

Indian agriculture is continuously subjected to instability arising out of fluctuations in weather and gamble of monsoon. As a result, the production of food-grains and other crops fluctuates widely leading to continuous fluctuation of prices of agricultural crops. This has created the element of instability in the agricultural operation of the country.

6. Conditions of Agricultural Labourers:

Agricultural labourers are the most exploited unorganized class in the rural population of the country. From the very beginning landlords and Zamindars exploited these labourers for their benefit and converted some of them as slaves or bonded labourers and forced to continue the system generation after generation. All these led to wretched condition and total deprivation of the rural masses.

7. Poor Farming Techniques and Agricultural Practices:

The farmers in India have been adopting orthodox and inefficient method and technique of cultivation. It is only in recent years that the Indian farmers have started to adopt improved implements like steel ploughs, seed drills, barrows, hoes etc. to a limited extent only. Most of the farmers were relying on centuries old. Wooden plough and other implements. Such adoption of traditional methods is responsible for low agricultural productivity in the country.

8. Inadequate Use of Inputs:

Indian agriculture is suffering from inadequate use of inputs like fertilizers and HYV seeds. Indian farmers are not applying sufficient quantity of fertilizers on their lands and even the application of farm yard dung manure is also inadequate. Indian farmers are still applying seeds of indifferent quality. They have no sufficient financial ability to purchase good quality high yielding seeds. Moreover, the supply of HYV seeds is also minimum in the country.

9. Inadequate Irrigation Facilities:

Indian agriculture is still suffering from lack of assumed and controlled water supply through artificial irrigation facilities. Thus the Indian farmers have to depend much upon rainfall which is neither regular nor even. Whatever irrigation potential that has been developed in our country, a very limited number of our farmers can avail the facilities.

10. Absence of Crop Rotation:

Proper rotation of crops is very much essential for successful agricultural operations as it helps to regain the fertility of the soil. Continuous production of cereals on the same plot of land reduces the fertility of the soil which may be restored if other crops like pulses, vegetables etc. are grown there. As the farmers are mostly illiterate, they are not very much conscious about the benefit of crop rotation. Therefore, land loses its fertility to a considerable extent.

11. Lack of Organized Agricultural Marketing:

Indian farmers are facing the problem of low income from their marketable surplus crops in the absence of proper organized markets and adequate transportation facilities. Scattered and sub-divided holdings are also creating serious problem for marketing their products.

12. Instability in Agricultural Prices:

Fluctuation in the prices of agricultural products poses a big threat to Indian agriculture. For the interest of the farmers, the Government should announce the policy of agricultural price support so as to contain a reasonable income from agricultural practices along with providing incentives for its expansion. Stabilization of prices is not only important for the growers but also for the consumers, exporters, agro-based industries etc.

13. Agricultural Indebtedness:

One of the greatest problems of Indian agriculture is its growing indebtedness. The rural people are borrowing a heavy amount of loan regularly for meeting their requirements needed for production, consumption and also for meeting their social commitments. Thus the debt passes from generation to generation. Indian farmers fall into the debt trap as a result of crop failure, poor income arising out of low prices of crops, exorbitantly high rate of interest charged by the moneylenders, manipulation and use of loan accounts by the moneylenders and use of loan for various unproductive social purposes.

Solutions to the problem:

1. Multiple crops Cultivation of multi crops such as coconut, turmeric, pine apple, banana, apple, papaya, ginger will yield profitable results to the farmers.
2. Special agricultural zone Just like industrial zone, there is an urgent need to establish special agricultural zones, where only farming and agriculture related activity should be allowed.
3. Need to modernize agriculture By introducing farm techniques which guarantee a definite success, an increase in youth participation on agricultural fields is economically possible.  This can be attained only by implementing new technologies.  Research efforts should continue for the production of crops with higher yield potential and better resistance to pests. Technological advancement in agriculture should be passed down to the small farmers. Where the existing crops would not do well under drought and weather conditions, the farmers should be helped to shift to cultivating crops that would be easy and economical to cultivate.
4. Educate the farmers Many farmers in India are not aware of crop rotation. Though education in urban areas has improved a lot, the government has ignored the same in rural areas in general and in agriculture sector  in particular.  This is the reason why farmers are not  adequately aware of the various schemes provided by the government.
5. Clubbing of small fields may help Several farmers who own small piece of land can join together and combine all small fields into one large chunk.  This may help in variety of ways.
6. Need for meaningful crop insurance policies Crop insurance is must and the claim should be settled easily under the supervision of the district collectors. Traditional crop insurance depends on the direct measurement of the damage suffered by a farmer to determine his/her payout.  However, field loss assessment is often not feasible or expensive, since most of our farmers are small holders. Index based insurance, on the other hand, responds to defined parameter. Index based insurance has the advantages that it is transparent and all the insurers within the defined geographical area are treated equally.  It has low operational and transnational costs, while also ensuring quick payouts.
7. Need for better water management Irrigation facilities that are currently available do not cover the entire cultivable land.  Apart from the areas where perennial rivers flow, most of the agricultural fields do not have irrigation facility. In most cases, it is not the lack of water but the lack of proper water management that causes water shortage. Improved modern methods of rain water harvesting should be developed. Water management can be made more effective through interstate co-operation on water resources, where surplus water from perennial rivers can be diverted to the needy areas. Connecting the rivers throughout the country will solve this problem. Construction of National Waterways will improve the irrigation facility, which in turn can save the farmers, if the monsoon would fail.
8. Alternate source of income for farmers Small farmers should be encouraged to develop alternative sources of income and the government should take up the responsibility for providing training to the farmers to acquire new skills. In drought affected areas, the government should start alternative employment generation programs to reduce the dependence on agriculture as the sole source of income. Such programs should be standardized. Farmers should be enabled to divide their activities into three parts.  One for regular crop production, one for animal husbandry or fisheries and another for timber production.  These activities complement each other and also alternate sources of income of farmers can be ensured.
9. Need for national weather risk management system/disease alert system Facilitating  national weather risk management system that alerts farmers when there is a danger of extreme weather, would go a long way in reducing losses in agriculture. Value added services like pest and disease alert applications, in combination with the weather forecast would equip the farmers to handle and manage their crops better. For example, Water Watch Cooperative, a Netherlands based organization, has developed a disease alert system that sends an alarm to farmers, if probability of a pest/disease would be detected. Similarly,  systems that detect the amount of water to be provided to a field based on the field water content, biomass, and rainfall probability, would aid in the optimization of water provision to the crop and ensure efficient crop management.