Development of Urban Agriculture in India: Public Policy Option

Abstract

The cities in India are rapidly growing and the manifestation of urban crisis in a variety of areas viz., environment, food, energy etc, can be directly traced to the unbridled growth of cities. Urban lands pattern are changing dramatically due to the pressure of population and the role of urban fringe... In supplying food, fuel, forage and industrial forest products, has declined considerably urban areas in India have emerged as the centers of impoverishing peripheral regions has become acute and interlinked in complex ways to urban energy, land use and the political economy of urban development. This paper looks at the nature of this crisis and the potential of urban agriculture in ameliorating the crisis. It develops an analysis of the nature of the crisis, reviews the different possibilities that exist in urban agriculture, discusses the constraints for effective Implementation of agricultural programmes through institutional structures and and finally develops policy options and strategies for promoting urban agriculture.