Índia: o despertar de um gigante do agronegócio

With a population of 1.31 billion people in 2015 and a projection of 1.69 billion in 2050, India has a major food security challenge, given its limited natural resources. In agriculture, India is the main producer and consumer of pulses (chickpeas, peas, lentils, red beans, Urd beans and other dry grain legumes typical of the region). Pulse production in India has stagnated in the decade of 2004 to 2014, with an estimated annual output of 19 million tons, for a consumption of around 21- 22 million tons. It occupies the second place in the production of rice, wheat, sugar cane, peanuts, vegetables, fruits and cotton. It is also a major producer of spices, fish, poultry, cattle and grains. Production of food grains has increased significantly over the past six decades: from about 50 million tons in the 1950s to over 263 million tons in 2013-14, an increase of more than 500% in six decades. Meat consumption of poultry (46%), followed by buffalo (23%), goat (13%), pork (5.5%) and cattle (5%), predominated in 2015/16. In the last decade, subsidies to encourage greater use of fertilizers, pesticides, seeds, water, electricity and credit, and market support prices have played a crucial role in growing agricultural output by 4.6% per year. Growth in food production, based on increased productivity, will be critical to providing sustainability, preventing higher domestic prices, providing food for all its growing population, particularly the poorest, most dependent and undernourished of the Indian population, as well as to generate exportable surpluses. Large populations and scarce natural resources are factors that favor business opportunitiesfor countries such as Brazil.