Abstract:
This paper seeks to highlight the economic and environmental issues concerning the agricultural
sector in the contemporary world. It emphasizes the role of agriculture in the process of overall
economic growth and poverty reduction. The recent developments in the rental markets of
agricultural capital goods have been tapped quite successfully by the small and marginal farmers
which are a healthy sign when the average size of agricultural land holding is shrinking. On the
other hand, the global climate change is expected to not only adversely affect agricultural yields,
labour productivity, and insurance coverage but also increase the gap between rich and poor
countries as far as the fate of their farmers is concerned. The role of innovations in agricultural
technology in dealing with the dual challenges of degradation of natural resource base and
global climatic change is also discussed in this paper.
