Making rapid strides: sources and drivers of agricultural growth in Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Agricultural sector continues to play a crucial role for economic development, especially in low-income countries like India where the sector is large both in terms of aggregate income and total labour force. This paper aims to identify the key sources and drivers of agriculture growth in Uttar Pradesh, the largest food producing state of India. The study is conducted as a quantitative time-series analysis for the period 1990–1991 to 2014–2015 using simple least square method (p ≤ 05). Although, the volatility of agriculture represented in terms of coefficient of variation is low in Uttar Pradesh in comparison to the national average, yet the growth of gross domestic product from agriculture (GDPA) has been low. The agricultural economy of Uttar Pradesh continues to be dominated by cereals with around 60% of its gross cropped area under cereal crops. The results of regression analysis indicate that better rainfall, irrigation facilities, favourable terms of trade, road development and fertiliser use played an important role to improve agriculture growth in the state. The paper offers a perspective for policy formulation which may be of interest to development scholars and policy-makers.