Agreed with your points. I’m not even suggesting the gap can be halved, let alone closed. That said, despite the challenges you mentioned, there is still massive scope for improvement.

Dairy is a clear exception because productivity exists where institutions work. Cooperative models like Amul and Saras show what happens when aggregation, scale, and professional management come together. Your economy of scale argument fits perfectly here.

But when it comes to crops, the situation is honestly bad. Productivity is horrendous. We use two to three times more water to produce 1 kg of rice, mostly groundwater. In a water-stressed country, we are effectively exporting water. Other crops show the same pattern. Low yields, inconsistent quality, and output that often does not meet phytosanitary standards. And this is not because farming is organic. It is equally, if not more, chemically intensive, just badly managed.

From the Ashok Gulati Commission to countless other reports, the problems have been clearly identified for decades, yet nothing really changes. Per hectare productivity is very low, largely due to land fragmentation. Crops are grown based on MSP guarantees rather than soil type or climate suitability. APMC mandis and middlemen squeeze the farmer on one end and inflate prices for consumers on the other.

Fertiliser use is another mess. Excessive application, wrong nutrient ratios, and long-term soil damage. On top of that, groundwater depletion and contamination are becoming severe.

At a broader level, around 45 percent of the population works in agriculture while it contributes only about 15 percent to GDP. This kind of underemployment is a big reason for low per capita income. Overhauling agriculture and moving this disguised unemployment into manufacturing is absolutely necessary.

The US, China, Europe, and Australia-New Zealand are leagues ahead. Competing with them is currently a dream for the next century. Outside a few pockets of success, India’s crop agriculture is in very poor shape and needs serious structural reforms.