India, May 21 -- By all indications, India is self-sufficient in food as harvests scale new heights. In 2023-24, wheat production crossed 113 million tonnes, while rice output hit a record 137.8 million tonnes. Total foodgrain production crossed 332 million tonnes, setting another record. But let us dig deeper.

Policymakers and the public often confuse yield with productivity. Yield is simply kilograms harvested per hectare, and it is easy to measure. However, productivity is output relative to the full value of everything that went into the crop - land, labour, water, fertiliser, and capital. This is harder to measure, but more relevant to understanding the state of agriculture. Yield can rise simply by pouring more inputs into the same...