Degrowth and the reimagining of Indian agriculture
For decades, global agriculture has pursued an extractive model of relentless yield maximisation—at a devastating cost. Soil degradation, water scarcity, and deepening inequities have made it clear that the promise of perpetual growth in a finite world is an illusion. This brief challenges the dominant narrative of industrialised, high-input farming and reimagines Indian agriculture through the lens of 'degrowth'—an emerging concept that is not about producing less, but about producing differently: prioritising well-being over profit, biodiversity over monocultures, and local self-sufficiency over corporate dependency. The brief explores how regenerative practices, community-driven food systems, and ecological balance can create a sustainable, just, and resilient future for farmers and consumers alike. Drawing on ancient Indian wisdom, modern ecological science, and global case studies, it presents a roadmap for a transition that is not only necessary but inevitable.
For the past 25 years, development professionals have attempted to find a solution for poverty and food insecurity in developing countries. The template used is akin to log frame matrices perfected by Western agricultural science. It included training farmers in developing countries to use high doses of agro-chemicals (input), resulting in increased yield (output), a rise in income (outcome), and food security (impact). This template became a norm in international development and has been prevalent since 1968, when William Gaud, then director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), coined the slogan Green Revolution to describe a framework marked by the extensive use of hybrid seeds with connected fertilisers and chemicals for monoculture farming, which created an output of a huge increase in yield. Gaud borrowed the idea from Henry Ford's 1913 concept of assembly lines with specialised tasks for each worker, which reduced the time needed to produce a car from 12 hours to 90 minutes while reducing manufacturing costs. Soon, farms were transformed into 'factories in the field,' specialising in single-crop assembly lines.
This phenomenon of extracting as much as possible from the soil using modern science continued in the 1990s. The use of biotechnologies, as well as the growing of genetically modified crops resistant to pests and diseases, were introduced. The more recent years have witnessed the use of smart agriculture through digital technologies. The question that arises is whether such focus on growth has provided the expected results in India and the world. This brief explores the promise of a contrasting approach—i.e., transitioning from extractive, chemical-laden agriculture to a degrowth in agriculture; prioritising ecology over yield, and people over profits.
This paper can be accessed here.
This paper is authored by Shatadru Chattopadhayay, ORF, New Delhi.
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