A comprehensive Nature study by forty researchers reveals that global adoption of a plant-based diet could free up agricultural land equivalent to India by 2050. The study, published in July 2025, ran ten food system simulators assuming global adoption of the Planetary Health Diet of the EAT-Lancet commission. While the central projections show world agricultural land falling by 6% from 2020 levels and total agricultural production declining by 17% compared to business-as-usual projections, the research highlights significant uncertainties. The study found that agricultural land fluctuations range between +1% and -26% across different models, with production declining between -2% and -32% and economic value changing between +8% and -58%. The central numbers show that the economic value of livestock farming would fall by between 49% and 83%, while fruit, vegetables, legumes and dried fruit would earn about 23% of average value.
India's cultivable land has experienced a decline over the past three years, according to the Land Use Statistics 2024-25. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Ramnath Thakur stated in a written reply to Rajya Sabha that the total cultivable land stood at 179.43 million hectares in 2024-25, down from 179.77 million hectares in 2023-24 and 179.98 million hectares in 2022-23. Despite this decline, the gross cropped area has expanded significantly, increasing from 198.28 million hectares in 2014-15 to 225.19 million hectares in 2024-25.
The adoption of modern technologies and effective policy interventions has led to a continuous improvement in cropping intensity, which has risen from 142.2 per cent in 2014-15 to 159.7 per cent in 2024-25. This reflects a positive shift toward multiple cropping practices, highlighting farmers' enhanced ability to cultivate the same land more than once annually. According to the minister's statement, foodgrain production increased from 252.02 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 376.56 million tonnes in 2025-26 (advance estimates), while horticulture production rose from 280.98 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 377.77 million tonnes in 2025-26 (advance estimates).
The Horticulture Statistics Unit under the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare started recording makhana data from 2024-25. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, total makhana production in India reached 63,910 tonnes in 2024-25 with an average productivity of 2.03 tonnes per hectare. According to Second Advance Estimates (2025-26), total production increased to 80,590 tonnes with an average productivity of 2.34 tonnes per hectare. Bihar emerged as the leading producer with 60,000 tonnes and average productivity of 2 tonnes per hectare in 2025-26. India exported 7,264.89 tonnes of makhana products worth ₹192.96 crore in 2025-26, with Bihar contributing 39.20 tonnes worth ₹4.03 crore.
To address the classification challenges, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) introduced a separate HSN code for popped makhana and other makhana products in 2025. According to Union Minister Bhagirath Choudhary, the ICAR-National Research Centre for Makhana, Darbhanga, has developed significant technologies including the high-yielding makhana variety 'Swarna Vaidehi' with average yield potential of 28-30 quintals per hectare, nearly double that of conventional cultivation. The innovation of makhana-cum-fish farming system has proven effective, offering 40-50 per cent higher income compared to solo makhana farming.
