Performance of Agricultural Sector Prepared By Dr.

Transcript:Performance of Agricultural Sector Prepared By Dr.:
Performance of Agricultural Sector Prepared By Dr. Nripesh Kalita Assistant Professor Dept. of Economics Khoirabari College 1. Introduction 2. Agricultural Sector in India - 2.1 Post-Reform Years 3. Traditional Cultivation to Modern Cultivation 3.1 Impact of Green Revolution 3.2 Problems of Indian Agriculture 4. Relationship between Agriculture and Industries - 4.1 Interdependence Between Agriculture and Industry 5. Conclusion Introduction The importance of agriculture sector in the Indian context can be understood from the fact that it continues to be the key for poverty alleviation, employment generation and an important source of foreign exchange earnings. Being the main source of employment and livelihood for close to 50 percent of the Indian labour force, agriculture continues to be the backbone of Indian economy. Although the contribution of agricultural sector to total GDP of India is declining over time, it continues to occupy its important place in the economy because of its linkage with the economic activities in the secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy. There has been a consistent decline in the share of agricultural sector’s GDP of India from the 53 percent in 1951 to about 14 percent in 2014. As a consequence, the share of industries and services sectors has increased from 17 percent to 26 percent and from 30 percent to 60 percent (over the period of 1951 to 2014) respectively. The main reasons behind the decline in the share of agricultural sector in total GDP are: (i) traditional means of cultivation, (ii) dependence on monsoon, (iii) small land holdings, (iv) low productivity, (v) reduced subsidy in the post-reform years of 1990s, (vi) low skill levels of farmers, (vii) inadequate investment in infrastructure necessary for better performance of agricultural sector, (viii) price volatility, etc. High fiscal deficit was one of the factors which forced the Indian government to forgo the inward looking policies of import substitution and adopt an outward looking policy of export promotion for economic advancement. Reduction in fiscal deficit was one of the conditions imposed by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) while extending the bailout package in the early 1990s. TRADITIONAL CULTIVATION TO MODERN CULTIVATION In mid-1960s, the Government of India realised that she should attain selfsufficiency in food production because of its geo-political compulsion. During this time, India devoted lot of resources in fighting a war with China (in 1962), Pakistan (in 1965) and faced two consecutive droughts (in 1965 and 1966). Apart from