As India prepares to mark Kisan Divas 2025, the Federation of All India Farmer Associations (FAIFA) convened a national seminar in New Delhi that placed farmers squarely at the heart of the country’s long-term food security and economic growth agenda.

Held at the Constitution Club of India, the seminar—titled “Rising Food Demand & Economic Growth Imperatives”—brought together policymakers, farm leaders, and sector experts to examine how India’s agricultural systems must evolve to meet rapidly intensifying demand pressures.

FAIFA, a non-profit representing millions of farmers and agricultural workers across key commercial crop belts including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka, used the platform to underline agriculture’s strategic importance to India’s future.

A food system under strain

At the event, FAIFA released a White Paper outlining the converging forces reshaping India’s food economy. With the country’s population projected to cross 1.6 billion by 2050, rising incomes and an expanding middle class are accelerating a shift toward more diverse, protein-rich, and high-value diets. At the same time, the supply side faces mounting constraints—from shrinking landholdings and farmland fragmentation to pressures from urbanisation, industrial expansion, and generational inheritance.

The report argues that unless India decisively strengthens its agricultural foundation, these structural stresses could undermine food affordability, farmer incomes, and long-term economic stability.

Roadmap for transformation

To address these challenges, FAIFA’s White Paper proposes a four-pillar investment and policy strategy aimed at modernising agriculture while strengthening farmer resilience.

The first pillar focuses on permaculture-based farming, recommending an investment of Rs 10,000 crore between 2026 and 2030 to bring five million hectares under regenerative and resource-efficient agricultural practices.

The second pillar targets export diversification, calling for Rs 15,000 crore in investment to lift agricultural exports to $ 100 billion. This would be achieved through the creation of 50 Agri-Export Zones, expansion of cold-chain infrastructure, strengthened quality certification, and greater value addition in high-value crops.

Safeguarding India’s non-GMO agricultural identity forms the third pillar. FAIFA proposes Rs 5,000 crore over five years to expand indigenous seed varieties by 50 per cent and develop 100 climate-resilient, non-GMO crops, reinforcing both food sovereignty and ecological resilience.

The fourth pillar addresses the sector’s financing gap. The White Paper calls for a transformation in agricultural credit delivery through annual disbursements of Rs 50,000 crore, scaling up to Rs 25 lakh crore by 2028, to reach 50 million small and marginal farmers. Central to this vision is the use of AI-driven digital lending platforms to improve access, reduce risk, and lower transaction costs.

Farmers as growth partners

FAIFA leaders emphasised that farmers must be treated not merely as beneficiaries of policy, but as active partners in India’s growth story. Empowering them through investment, technology, and market access, the organisation argued, is essential to building a food system capable of sustaining both economic expansion and social stability in the decades ahead.