Miller Magazine Issue: 138 June 2021

87 Country Profile MILLER / june 2021 India is the world’s second-largest produc- er of rice and wheat and by far the largest producer of pulses. Wheat and rice are the cornerstones of India’s food security poli- cy. According to USDA, India is heading for its fifth consecutive bumper wheat harvest thanks to favorable weather conditions in the major wheat-growing areas. USDA forecasts 2020/2021 (April-March) wheat production at 107 million tonnes from 31.6 million hectares. India is the second-most populous country in the world after China, with an estimated population of 1.3 billion people. With an area of 3,287,263 km², India is the 7th largest country in the world. It is the world's largest de- mocracy and, according to UN estimates, its population is expected to overtake China in 2028 to become the world's most populous nation. As a rising economic pow- erhouse, India has emerged as an important regional power. But it is also tackling huge social, economic and environmental problems. After growing at very high rates for years, India’s economy had already begun to slow down before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Be- tween FY17 and FY20, growth decelerated from 8.3 per- cent to 4.0 percent. India is an agrarian economy, and more than 52 per- cent of the land area is considered arable. It is among INDIA GRAIN OUTLOOK