Why shrinking farmlands are driving global agri crisis and why India faces an acute situation
Global farmland is shrinking, and the number of farmers is plummeting as younger generations lose interest. By 2100, farmland could decrease by half, even as food demand rises sharply. India faces a particularly acute crisis, with thousands of farmers leaving agriculture daily and farmland rapidly depleting. This trend threatens both employment and food security worldwide, exacerbated by urbanisation, climate change, and dwindling water resources.
New Delhi: Farmlands are shrinking across the world and the number of farmers is falling as the younger generation is losing interest in pursuing farming as a profession. Worldwide, the average farmer is 55 years old — an age close to retirement for most workers. By 2100, international studies warn, the number of farmlands will decrease by half, even as the global population and food demand will see a steep rise.
In India, thousands of farmers are leaving agriculture every day and farmland has seen a fast depletion. The signs of a looming global agricultural crisis are increasing and becoming more evident. With farmers abandoning agriculture and farms shrinking, the problem has turned more severe.
As per the International Labour Organisation (ILO), agriculture’s share in global employment has gone down from 43% in 1991 to just 26% in 2023. On an average, around 2,000 farmers are leaving agriculture every day. Arnold Puech d’Alissac, President of the World Farmers’ Organisation, has reportedly warned that if this trend continues, it will have serious fallout for both employment and food supply. Farming depends on land. However, as more and more land is used for factories, cities, and infrastructure projects, agriculture takes a hit. To cap it all, climate change is affecting crop cycles, as a result of which maintaining good harvests is becoming tougher.
Hannah Ritchie, deputy editor and head of science outreach at 'Our World in Data', says that after millennia, we have passed the peak, and in recent years global agricultural land use has declined. "This marks a historic moment in humanity’s relationship to the planet; a crucial step in its protection of the world’s ecosystems."
A Down To Earth report highlighted findings of Zia Mehrabi of the Better Planet Laboratory, University of Colorado, US. Published in Nature Sustainability, his findings predict that the number of farms across the globe "will drop from 616 million in 2020 to 272 million in 2100”.
India in dire straits
Land for agriculture in India is shrinking at a steady pace. According to a report in Amar Ujala, Agriculture Ministry data, in 1970–71 indicated that about 182 million hectares were used for farming, but by 2020–21, this had fallen to less than 140 million hectares. The average farm size dropped from 2.28 hectares in 1970–71 to 1.08 hectares in 2018–19. Small and marginal farmers (those with less than 2 hectares of land) now make up 86% of all farmers, but they own only 47% of the agricultural land, the report said. It also pointed out that a NITI Aayog report warned that by 2030, the per capita availability of agricultural land in India will dip to less than 0.12 hectares, compared to 0.34 hectares in 1960.
Land availability, irrigation facilities, urbanisation, and alternative employment opportunities are driving farmers away from agriculture in India. The rate is reportedly higher in Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and western Uttar Pradesh. Lopsided development, infrastructure projects encroaching on farmlands, and lack of water resources are some of the reasons behind this. In Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha, the rate is slower, but large number of youth are migrating to other states in search of livelihoods that can sustain them. If these trends continue, India’s farming workforce could plummet alarmingly in the coming decades, and this will pose serious threat to both food security and the economy of a region or village.