Why India's agrarian crisis is now a nutrition crisis

By Vikas  Meshram* 

When the numbers are examined closely, one conclusion is inescapable: Indian agriculture is passing through a deep and prolonged crisis. Farming is no longer a dependable source of livelihood, while public support remains inadequate to restore its viability. The Indian farmer, who once relied primarily on his land, is increasingly being pushed towards wage labour. Today, barely one-third of a farming household's monthly income comes from cultivation, while nearly two-thirds is earned through wage labour, salaried jobs, or small businesses. Farming alone is no longer sufficient to sustain a family.

Even more worrying is that new entrants into agriculture are increasingly joining as farm labourers rather than landowning cultivators. As landholdings continue to fragment, agricultural incomes shrink, forcing rural households to depend on non-farm employment. This structural distress is reflected in farmer suicide data. In 2024, over 56 percent of agricultural suicides were among farm labourers—a trend that has persisted since 2021. In that year alone, 5,913 farm labourers died by suicide compared with 4,633 landowning farmers. Unlike cultivators, most farm labourers own no land, have little access to crop insurance, and possess almost no financial cushion when crops fail. They have become the most vulnerable face of India's agrarian crisis.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) paints an equally disturbing picture. Nearly 30 percent of farming households reported crop losses over the past five years due to erratic rainfall, pests, cyclones, or drought, while another 12 percent suffered because of sudden price crashes. Faced with repeated shocks, families have been forced either to exhaust their savings or borrow from informal lenders. NABARD estimates the average monthly net income of a farming household at barely ₹1,951, while average household debt exceeds ₹91,000. Unsurprisingly, indebtedness has become a defining feature of rural India. Recognising this, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture has urged targeted interventions to prevent farmers from falling into an unsustainable debt trap and to ensure that government schemes actually reach intended beneficiaries.

The crisis is likely to deepen. Meteorologists are warning of a potential super El Niño that could disrupt the coming monsoon. Farmers already burdened by losses and debt have little capacity to absorb another climatic shock. In an era of increasing climate uncertainty, a coherent and long-term agricultural policy is no longer optional—it is essential.

The consequences of agrarian distress extend far beyond the farm. They are now visible on the dinner table of every Indian household. According to the United Nations' State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026, the per capita cost of a healthy diet in India has increased by more than 48 percent since 2017. The minimum daily cost of a balanced diet rose from US$2.77 (PPP) to US$4.11 (PPP) in 2025, reflecting a 21 percent increase since 2021 alone.

This rise disproportionately affects low-income households. As food prices increase, families do not stop eating—they stop eating nutritious food. Fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs, and pulses are the first items to disappear from household budgets. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) define a healthy diet as one that provides adequate energy, diversity, and essential nutrients—not merely enough calories to satisfy hunger.

India is not alone in facing this challenge. The global cost of a healthy diet has increased by about 46 percent since 2017. Across South Asia, costs have risen sharply in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan as well. Yet India's challenge is magnified by its population size: even modest increases in food prices affect millions of households.

The paradox is striking. Farmers receive low prices for their produce while consumers pay increasingly high prices for nutritious food. The explanation lies in the long chain between farm and plate. Processing, transportation, storage, cold chains, and wholesale distribution account for nearly 70–75 percent of the final retail cost of many nutritious foods. As a result, farmers receive inadequate returns while consumers struggle with rising prices. Both ends of the value chain lose, while inefficiencies within the supply system capture much of the value.

Government food security programmes have undoubtedly improved access to staple grains such as rice and wheat. But food security cannot be equated with nutritional security. Pulses, fruits, vegetables, milk, and eggs—the foods that combat malnutrition and anaemia—remain unaffordable for many families. India therefore faces the uncomfortable reality of simultaneously producing food and sustaining widespread nutritional deficiencies.

Addressing this challenge requires much more than expanding grain distribution. Investments in irrigation, cold-chain infrastructure, food processing, agricultural research, and efficient supply chains are essential to reduce wastage and lower the retail cost of nutritious foods. Strengthening local production and shortening supply chains would benefit both producers and consumers.

The FAO has also warned that geopolitical tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, combined with the persistence of El Niño through 2026, could place additional pressure on global food and fertiliser prices. As FAO Chief Economist Máximo Torero Cullen has argued, the world's principal challenge today is not food scarcity but the rising cost of nutritious diets. Expanding local production remains one of the most effective ways to address this crisis.

The consequences of expensive nutrition extend beyond hunger. Poor diets impair children's physical growth and cognitive development, weaken women's health, reduce labour productivity, and impose long-term economic costs on society. Research published in BMJ Global Health, based on dietary surveys across 185 countries, shows that children are consuming significantly fewer fruits, vegetables, pulses, nuts, and seeds than recommended. These deficiencies threaten lifelong health outcomes.

Ultimately, the suicide of a farmer and the disappearance of nutritious food from a child's plate are not separate tragedies. They are symptoms of the same systemic failure. Farmers do not receive fair compensation for their labour, while consumers cannot afford healthy diets. Unless India reforms the food system connecting production to consumption, this vicious cycle will continue to reproduce itself—claiming lives in the countryside while silently undermining the health of future generations.

India's objective can no longer remain confined to ensuring food for all. It must now strive to guarantee nutritious food for all. That requires an agricultural system that rewards farmers fairly, efficient supply chains that reduce costs, and public policies that place nutrition—not merely food availability—at the centre of national development.

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*Contact: vikasmeshram04@gmail.com