Excellent article on the food crisis in India

http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/apr/22guest.htm

Agricultural productivity in India is quite deplorable. If we compare the productivity of Indian agriculture to that of the productivity in other countries, we will find that our's is way behind the leading nations. Take for instance China. With only 100 million hectare of agricultural land, China is producing 400 million tonnes of grain while India with its 146 million hectares of agricultural land produces on an average only 108 million tonnes of food.

If we take the production per hectare of individual crops too we will find that the country is way behind other countries. The average production of rice per hectare in India is around 1,756 kgs compared to 5,475 kgs of North Korea; we are harvesting only 2117 kgs of wheat per hectare compared to 7,716 kgs by the Netherlands. Similarly, India produces only 1606 kgs of corn per hectare compared to 9091 kgs of corn per hectare by Greece.