Before Independence, Indian agriculture was largely subsistence with dismal performance, witnessing severe droughts and famines. After Independence, the immediate goal was to increase foodgrains production through three strategies: switching from cash crops to food crops, intensification of cropping over cultivated land, and bringing cultivable and fallow land under plough.

When agricultural production stagnated in the late 1950s, the government launched Intensive Agricultural District Programme (IADP) and Intensive Agricultural Area Programme (IAAP). Subsequently, the Green Revolution made India self-reliant in foodgrain production, though it initially created regional disparities as it was confined to irrigated areas. The technology later spread to Eastern and Central parts after the 1970s.

In the 1980s, the Planning Commission focused on rainfed areas and initiated agro-climatic planning in 1988 for regionally balanced development. It emphasised diversification of agriculture including dairy farming, poultry, horticulture, livestock rearing and aquaculture.

The policy of liberalisation and free market economy in the 1990s influenced agricultural development. Recently, the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) aims to make agriculture productive, sustainable, remunerative and climate resilient. Schemes like Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) promote organic farming.