The Role Of Agriculture In India

784 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Impact of agriculture

The agriculture sector contributed more than half the output of the Indian economy when the country embarked on its First Five-Year Plan in 1950-51. Over a period of six decades, the share of agriculture has gradually declined to less than 15 percent. Even in the rural economy, the share of the agricultural sector has declined to 38 percent of the total income generated in rural areas (2004-05). Despite its shrinking share in national income and losing its dominance in rural income, the performance of the agricultural sector remains a matter of central concern to policy makers and the public at large (Chand et. al., 2012). As a concomitant of growth, the share of agriculture and allied sector in gross domestic product …show more content…

Slow growth in agricultural productivity means slow improvement in the welfare of those dependent on it, as evident in emerging trends (for example, widening gap between agricultural and non-agricultural labour productivities, excess family labour remaining on farms, declining profitability on small farms). This need not be the case, as the experience of comparator countries with very different factor endowments shows. China, with a much larger share of workforce in agriculture than India, and Brazil with a much lower share, have both made remarkable progress in improving the standard of living of their agricultural population with significantly faster growth in agricultural productivity than India (Gautam, 2016). A singular characteristic of Indian agriculture is the predominance of small and marginal farms (1.16 ha in 2010-11). However, empirical studies indicate that small size of land holdings are not a deterrent to increasing productivity, which is determined by focused research and investments, access to modern inputs, appropriate technology, and innovative marketing systems to aggregate and market the output efficiently and effectively (Economic Survey, 2013-14). The agricultural workers especially small and marginal farmers (less than 2 hectares of land) constituted 84.97 in

Show More
Related

  • Analyze The Benefits Of Farming In The West Dbq

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    From 1865 to 1900, production of crops increased, and prices dropped. (Document A) These crops were shipped east, where they were eaten and exported to other countries. This was due to technology, but government policy caused economic conditions in the west barely improved as a result. In fact, despite the success many farmers experienced, many in the west still struggled to put food on the table.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Stuffed And Starved

    2185 Words  | 5 Pages

    Our nation was founded on agriculture, and for hundreds of years we were able to migrate across the nation bringing our farming tools and techniques with us. Technology has driven populations away from rural areas towards industrialized cities. With money now being pumped into cities, rural farmers are suffering the most. Farmers are taking out large loans in order to sustain their farms, leading to debt and in some cases suicide. Patel spoke about a farmer in India whose husband took his life because he was unable to live with the amount of debt from his struggling farm. This man left his wife and chi...

    Read More

  • Bitter Seeds Essay

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Economy is really bad in parts of India, people are usually not using technology, the way they cook is unsanitary, and houses are not modern. Indian farmers used to use seeds that required only cow poop for fertilizer. The Jai BT seeds that Monsanto created requires two different fertilizers, Jai BT seeds are more expensive than the old seeds, so farmers have to pay extra for the fertilizer and seeds. The Jai BT seeds did not germinate in the soil and rotted, causing the farmer much stress. The farmers pay a high amount of money for the land. If their farm does not grow, the farmer doesn't get any money and will eventuall...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Behind The Beautiful Forevers

    1748 Words  | 4 Pages

    This is necessary as the vast majority of individuals migrating from rural to urban centers has been steadily increasing with the level of economic growth seen within the past twenty years as mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, this situation has further shown the structural issues and inequalities of cities, as most migrants end up having a poor quality of life living in informal settlements as highlight substantially by Boo. As a means of tackling this, however, the Indian government has turned its focus on investing rural regions, developing the agricultural sector. Specifically, Boo mentions that “the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, had come down from Delhi to express his concern for the farmers’ hardships, and the central government’s determination to relieve it” (p. 138). While this is definitely important funds are not being divided justly. For starters, between rural and urban areas almost all investments are being targeting towards rural regions, which is only addressing issues of inequality in one section of the country. Furthermore, across rural areas inequalities of investment are quite often overlooked. Although, “one of the governments hopes was to stop villagers from abandoning their farms and further inundating cities like Mumbai, but Asha’s relatives knew nothing of these celebrated relief programs” (p. 138). Therefore, even though

    Read More

  • Problems of the Food System

    2097 Words  | 5 Pages

    Farmers are essentially the back-bone of the entire food system. Large-scale family farms account for 10% of all farms, but 75% of overall food production, (CSS statistics). Without farmers, there would be no food for us to consume. Big business picked up on this right away and began to control the farmers profits and products. When farmers buy their land, they take out a loan in order to pay for their land and farm house and for the livestock, crops, and machinery that are involved in the farming process. Today, the loans are paid off through contracts with big business corporations. Since big business has such a hold over the farmers, they take advantage of this and capitalize on their crops, commodities, and profits. Farmers are life-long slaves to these b...

    Read More

  • Poverty Of Poverty

    650 Words  | 2 Pages

    Few concerns have surfaced in economy that plays a vital role in agriculture and therefore in economic development. Developing countries and more even, LDC’s, are dependent on agriculture for income for the population. But achieving good agriculture means that many things have to change within these countries self. Good transportation is need in these countries and more often than not the infrastructure doesn’t allow this to happen and transporting agricultural goods are more expensive for these countries, thus these countries need capital and investments to further their outputs and inputs to gain bet...

    Read More

  • Difference Between Conventional And Conventional Agriculture

    2223 Words  | 5 Pages

    It is estimated that 37 farmers leave the land every day to pursuit in different field (Herro 2006). The decline in rural farmers is from the consequences of industrialization of agriculture. Only 1 percent of the UK workforce is now employed on farm, compared to 35 percent in the last century (Herro 2006). Many of these workers are being weaved out by better technologies that can do the same work at a faster and more efficient rate. On the contrary, organic farming relies more on people for knowledge, daily monitoring, and production. A study by the Soil Association shows organic farming can potentially provide 32 percent more jobs per farm than conventional farming in the United Kingdom (Herro 2006). However, critics have argued that human labors will lead to higher food prices, which makes the shift infeasible. But while this may be true in developed country, a full scale shift to organic farming in developing countries, where labors are much cheaper than pesticides, can lead to a much higher profit for the farmers. Organic farming attracts younger employees than any other work industry. Currently, the average age for conventional farmer is 56 (Herro 2006). If a full scale shift to organic farming were to happen, it would draw a more vibrant and enthusiastic workforce who are food conscious than that older generations, setting up a platform

    Read More

  • Indus Valley and the Beginnings of Agriculture

    969 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Indus Valley is located in northern India and is an important site concerning the early beginnings of agriculture in the old world. The geography, environment, and timeframe of the Indus Valley are distinct to the area and different from other sites of agricultural origin. Many plants and animals were domesticated in the Indus Valley, and due to the areas susceptibility to flooding, technological innovations had to take place. The Indus Valley is important to understanding the beginnings of agriculture and early civilization.

    Read More

  • Effects of Agriculture on the Environment

    2078 Words  | 5 Pages

    As agriculture has become more intensive, farmers have become capable of producing higher yields using less labour and less land. Growth of the agriculture has not, however, been an unmixed blessing. It, like every other thing, has its pros and cons. Topsoil depletion, groundwater contamination, the decline of family farms, continued neglect of the living and working conditions for farm labourers, increasing costs of production, and the disintegration of economic and social conditions in rural communities. These are the cons of the new improved agriculture.

    Read More

  • Bhutan

    650 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bhutan is the poorest of all the Himalayan countries. It’s underdeveloped, but has the potential to develop it’s economy. Farming is Bhutan’s chie...

    Read More

  • Agricultural Policy

    1183 Words  | 3 Pages

    In many discussions of the alternative patterns that might lift South Asian agriculture, land redistribution is ruled out at an early stage on the grounds that it would simply create small uneconomic holdings and sacrifice the efficiency of the present large units of cultivation. These fears are, in fact, exaggerated.

    Read More

  • The History of Agriculture

    1781 Words  | 4 Pages

    Agriculture is quite possibly the most important advancement and discovery that humanity has made. It produces the one thing that we need the most: food. It has been around since 9500 BC, and can be the oldest sign of mankind’s acumen and the development and evolving of our minds and creations. Agriculture has been mastered throughout hundreds of years and is one of our most important resources on Earth, along with water and fossil fuels. Although the older farming methods from ancient times seem somewhat mediocre and barbaric, they were very ingenious and advanced for that time period. Over thousands of years, we have improved the way agriculture is used, how land is cultivated, the various techniques of farming and irrigation, and the tools and mechanics used. Numerous things that we see as aboriginal today, such as using a hand plow, were extremely contemporary in ancient times, and played key roles in the development of man and society, since quick labor was not abundant before this time. We are now extremely advanced in agriculture and irrigation and the tools used to farm and grow and harvest crops. We have learned from our past and ancestors how to grow and evolve in our methods and have advanced forward greatly.

    Read More

  • Unemployment In Agriculture

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    The agricultural sector is made up of two sectors, being the commercial farming sector, which is mainly in the commercial areas of the country and subsistent farming, which is mainly in the rural areas. Most of the agricultural income comes from commercial farming, but due to the low amount of commercial farmers in South Africa the potential for improving the employment rate lies with the subsistent farming. The agricultural sector of South Africa plays a main role in creating a strong and stable economy. With improvements to the agricultural sector, the sector has the ability to stimulate economic growth and reduce poverty and improve the divide between the rich and poor. With improvements to the agricultural sector the come for the lower class citizen would be increased and greater employment opportunities would be created, which will in turn improve the total unemployment rate in...

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Agricultural Education

    842 Words  | 2 Pages

    Agriculture has always been one of the pillars that our nation’s economy depends upon. As this industry grows and expands agriculture is not just farming. There’s so many different occupations that are involved with the industry that aren’t out in the fields produces food and fiber. With such an evolving industry, education is key to make sure everyone is up to speed with the newest knowledge and technology. Agricultural education, plays a huge role in educating the people within the industry along with people that benefit from it.

    Read More

  • Rising Food Prices

    1504 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...earch and extension, rural infrastructure, and market access for small farmers. Rural investments have been sorely neglected in recent decades, and now is the time to reverse this trend. Farmers in many developing countries are operating in an environment of inadequate infrastructure like roads, electricity, and communications; poor soils; lack of storage and processing capacity; and little or no access to agricultural technologies that could increase their profits and improve their livelihoods. Recent unrest over food prices in a number of countries may tempt policymakers to put the interests of urban consumers over those of rural people, including farmers, but this approach would be shortsighted and counterproductive. Given the scale of investment needed, aid donors should also expand development assistance to agriculture, rural services, and science and technology.

    Read More

More about The Role Of Agriculture In India

Open Document