Dr. Parveen Kumar, Dr. D. Namgyal
Allan Savory, an ecologist rightly said that, ‘Agriculture is not crop production as popular belief holds. It’s the production of food and fibre from the world’s land and waters. Without agriculture it is not possible to have a city, stock market, banks, university, church or army. Agriculture is the foundation of civilization and any stable economy’. Agriculture in India is a way of life; it is the most important sector for food security and socio-economic development. It is the backbone of Indian economy accounting for about 14% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) besides providing employment to about 60% of the country’s population. India ranks first, with 179.8 m ha (9.6 percent of the global net cropland area) of net cropland area according to United States Geological Survey 2017. At present, India is the largest food grain producer in the world. It ranks second worldwide in farm output, Horticultural production has crossed the agriculture production in the country. India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of more than 50 spices. India ranks amongst the top few in the world in the production of several crops and is also the largest milk producing country in the world.
From a food grain production of about 50 million tonnes at the time of independence to more than 200 million tonnes now, the dynamics of agriculture growth in India presents some interesting facts. The agricultural growth in India has been fluctuating since more than 50 per cent of agriculture in India depends on rainfall. However, the sector has been witnessing a gradual structural change in recent years.
The contribution of agricultural sector to national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has continued to decline over the years. This is in sharp contrast to other sectors particularly services which have increased over the years. The share of agriculture in the country’s GDP has shrunk from 55 per cent in 1951-52 through 44 per cent in 1970-71 to 31.4 per cent in 1990-91 to about 14 per cent at present. While industry and services have grown, agricultural sector has lagged behind. Information technology sector is growing consistently at 30 per cent every year but agriculture has not even achieved 4 per cent growth.
In terms of composition, out of a total share of 14.6 per cent of the GDP from agriculture and allied sectors in 2009-10, agriculture alone accounted for 12.3 per cent, followed by forestry at 1.5 per cent and fisheries at 0.8 per cent (CSO, 2011). The share of agricultural exports in total export value declined from about 18.5 per cent in 1990-91 to about 10.6 per cent in 2009-10, while the share of agricultural imports to total imports increased from 2.8 per cent in 1990-91 (pre reforms period) and reached a high of 8.2 per cent in 1998-99 and declined to about 4.4 per cent in 2009-
10. Nonetheless, agriculture still remains a major source of employment, absorbing about 50 per cent of the total national workforce. The share of livestock in Gross Value Added (GVA) in agriculture has been rising gradually and the share of the crop sector in GVA has been on the decline from 65 per cent in 2011-12 to 60 per cent in 2015-16. The decrease in share of crop sector in the total gross value added of the agriculture and allied sector has impacted the sources of incomes of the farm households. The share of livestock in total farm incomes was just 4 per cent in 2002-03 which increased to 13 per cent by 2012-13.
If we talk of the agriculture growth rate from 1975 to 2018, we see it is on a declining spree. The best growth rate was observed in 1988 when it was 15.6 per cent while the negative growth rate was observed in 1976 when it went to -5.8 per cent. The average annual growth rate in real terms in agriculture as well as its allied sectors has remained static in the last six years, in turn impacting farmers’ income, said the Economic Survey 2019-20, released on January 31, 2020. The annual growth rate in real terms in agriculture and its allied sectors was 2.88 per cent from 2014-15 to 2018-19, according to the Survey. The estimated growth rate in 2019-20 is 2.9 per cent. The Economic Survey Report 2020 also emphasized the importance of sustainable agricultural practices to support small and marginal farmers, who constitute 87 per cent of India’s peasants. There are also interstate variations in agriculture growth rate and production in the country. The states such as Tamil Nadu (5.46%), West Bengal (5.25%), Rajasthan (5.5%), Punjab (4.9%), Haryana (4.78%) and Madhya Pradesh (4.62%) achieved outstanding growth in agricultural output and the states of Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal achieved remarkable growth in yield. Of the top ten farming states in the country, the West Bengal is the largest producer of rice in India. Other than rice, jute, Sesamum, and tobacco are known for farming in West Bengal. Uttar Pradesh is also another major farming state in India. It ranks amongst the top states in India based on farming, especially rice, bajra, food grains, sugarcane, barley, and more. Wheat is the major crop produced by farmers in UP. Punjab is given the third rank in farming. The crops focused in farming here include wheat sugarcane, food grains, and cotton. Punjab is also known for its best irrigation system and plain lands ideal for farming. Haryana enjoys the fourth rank in agricultural farming in India. Major crops produced are paddy, sunflower, sugarcane, and wheat. It is also the second largest producer for sunflower in India. The state of Madhya Pradesh has gained great prominence in pulses farming. The farmers include farming of wheat and maize as their main source of income. Some names to remember are tur, urad, and soyabean. Chattisgarh also figures in top ten states in the country. It is also called as the ‘Rice Bowl of Central India.’ The main crops farmers grow here are maize, rice, and millets. Being on the seventh rank, Odisha plays a major role in farming too. The main reason why it is one of the ten largest farming states of India is because 60% of people are farmers’. About 87.46 lakh hectares of land is used to carry out farming activity. Castor, cotton, Jowar, bajra, and maize are some major produce. In Andhra Pradesh, 62 per cent of the peoples are engaged in farming with rice being a major crop. The state of Telangana has 114.84 lakh hectares of land for farming of rice, sugarcane, tobacco, and mango. Most people refer to the state as ‘Seed Bowl of the Country’. Karnataka is also a major farming state. The major crops grown in the state include barley, sesame, peas, mustard, wheat, millets, moong dal, red chillies, groundnuts, and cotton. |
