[29] FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT AND AGRICULTURAL GROWTH IN INDIA: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTIVITY AND EXPORT PERFORMANCE

ARTICLE INFO: Date of Submission: Mar 6, 2026, Revised: Mar 15, 2026, Accepted: Mar 18 , 2026, CrossRef D.O.I : https://doi.org/10.56815/ijmrr.v5i3.2026.306-320. How To Cite: Sandhya Swarnkar & Sanjeeva Shukla (2026). Foreign Direct Investment and Agricultural Growth in India: An Empirical Analysis of Productivity and Export Performance. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research & Reviews. 5(3). 306-320.

Abstract

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has become a very significant source of economic growth in the emerging economies, especially in those sectors that need capital investment, technological advancement and better infrastructure. Agriculture is also an important sector in India that has played a crucial role in creating jobs, sustaining the livelihood of the rural population, and food security. The sector has continued to have structural challenges, which include low productivity, fragmented landholdings, poor irrigation systems, and poor adoption of modern technologies, regardless of the importance. In this regard, FDI may have a big role in empowering the agricultural sector by enabling the inflow of capital and technology transfer and the modernisation of supply chains. The current paper investigates the contribution of Foreign Direct Investment in the

growth of agriculture in India. The study is more specific, examining the trend and pattern of FDI inflows in the agricultural sector and considers the effect of FDI on the agricultural productivity and export performance. The authors use secondary time-series data, that is, the data collected during the years 2010 to 2025, which are the reliable sources such as the Reserve Bank of India, Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and the World Bank. The relationship among the variables is investigated by using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis. The empirical findings reveal that a positive and statistically significant effect of Foreign Direct Investment on agricultural export and agricultural productivity of India is positive. The results indicate that FDI is helpful in the modernisation of agriculture by technological development, development of better infrastructures and development of agricultural value chain that creates the competitiveness of the agricultural products in terms of productivity and exportation.