New Delhi, April 22 -- India has the benefit of favourable climatic conditions that enable diversity in crop production, routinely helping it rank among the world's top two countries for arable land. The country also has the world's second-largest agricultural crop output.

Yet, there are several markers that indicate significant headroom for growth. For example, India's yield for cereals is 25% and 50% lower in kilogram-per-hectare terms than Brazil's and the US's, respectively; India's share of processed food exports is about 25% of its total agricultural exports; and over 90% of Indian farmers are yet to adopt modern agri-technologies such as precision farming and remote sensing.

While strong agri-production fundamentals and the high ...