Over the years, intensified mono-cropping placed continuous pressure on soil nutrients without equivalent replenishment | Photo Credit: SRIRAM MA

India produced more food in 2024-25 than ever before, with foodgrain output touching 354 million tonnes, up more than 100 million tonnes over the past decade alone. Yet rising output has not translated into nutritional security for large sections of the population. The 2025 SOFI (State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World) report found that 18.7 per cent of Indian children under five are affected by wasting, while anaemia affects more than half of women aged 15-49. Even as production rises, the quality of the soil sustaining that production is steadily weakening underneath.

India’s post-Green Revolution transformation was rooted in the urgent need for food self-sufficiency. Procurement and policy support became heavily concentrated around rice and wheat, gradually displacing pulses, millets, and oilseeds from cultivation systems. Over time, this intensified mono-cropping placed continuous pressure on soil nutrients without equivalent replenishment.

Soil organic carbon

Decades of intensive cereal cultivation, nitrogen-heavy fertilizer use, and declining organic replenishment gradually weakened the biological systems that sustain soil fertility itself. One of the clearest indicators of this biological health is Soil Organic Carbon (SOC), a measure of organic matter in soil. SOC sustains the microbial activity through which plants absorb and retain nutrients. When SOC declines, yields may remain stable for a period, but the soil’s biological functioning gradually weakens. Its ability to retain moisture, recycle nutrients, and sustain long-term fertility begins to deteriorate.

Soil Health Card data from 2025-26, based on over 93 lakh samples, shows widespread nutrient imbalance across Indian soils. Around 73 per cent of tested samples were low in nitrogen, while significant deficiencies were also observed in micronutrients such as zinc and iron.

Fertilizer policy continues to encourage excessive nitrogen application over balanced nutrient use, while intensive mono-cropping and inadequate replenishment of organic matter steadily weaken the soil’s ability to sustain itself.

Soil degradation extends well beyond nutrition: soil organic carbon plays a critical role in water retention. Research shows that a 1 per cent increase in SOC can raise an acre’s water holding capacity by up to 25,000 gallons. For rain-fed agricultural systems like India’s, this can make a decisive difference, especially during periods of heat stress and irregular rainfall. A 2025 Soil and Tillage Research study found that improving SOC levels can reduce warming induced yield losses, particularly in dryland regions. In States such as Punjab and Haryana, where SOC levels have already fallen to 0.2-0.4 per cent in several areas, these risks are no longer distant concerns. Declining soil quality also pushes farmers towards greater dependence on chemical inputs to maintain productivity, increasing both cultivation costs and emissions over time.

India is also beginning to show that alternative approaches are possible. Andhra Pradesh’s Community Managed Natural Farming programme, launched in 2016, reached nearly 17.74 lakh farmers across 9.26 lakh hectares and 4,116 gram panchayats in 2025-26. The initiative focuses on rebuilding soil health, reducing chemical dependence, and diversifying cultivation systems. Early research suggests these plots can match conventional yields while reducing input costs and improving farm incomes, though their significance extends beyond productivity. By restoring organic matter and improving soil moisture retention, they attempt to rebuild the biological resilience that decades of intensive cultivation have steadily weakened.

Restoring soil health is not about reversing modern agriculture. It is about ensuring the foundations of agricultural productivity remain ecologically sustainable in the decades ahead.

Amit is chair and Subashini is researcher at Institute for Competitiveness

Published on June 17, 2026