Zambia Agribusiness Society - ZAS Farmer's Handbook on Basic Agriculture

Higher demand for agricultural raw material is now anticipated and agriculture is not any more about producing farm products and selling them exclusively at the local market. Instead farmers today have a world market to serve. But the new chances bring new challenges. Farmers and agricultural enterprises, willing to be part of the new expanding world market, not only have to take into consideration customers’ preferences whom they want to serve, but also adhere to international trade regulations set by WTO and comply with high production and quality standards required by the importing countries.

Agriculture contributes around 17% to GDP and continues to be among the most important and successful sectors in India. Around 58% of the Indian population depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Apart from delivering the local industries with top quality raw materials for processing, agriculture provides almost 10% of total export earnings. However, to support the impressive Indian economic growth in the coming years, agriculture will have to contribute more towards value addition, productivity enhancement, high quality products and trained manpower to successfully tackle these challenges.