The Growth of Indian Agriculture: A Regional Analysis

Abstract

providing about 50 percent of the gross national product and nearly 70 percent of the employment, an adequate agricultural growth rate is essential for sustained economic progress. The growth rate of agricultural output has a considerable influence on the overall growth rate of the economy and on the productivity of a large part of the work force. Moreover, a rapid increase in agricultural output is essential to meet the increasing demand for food and other agricultural products, which results from the rapid population growth (currently estimated at 2.5 percent per year) and from the rise in per capita consumption. This is particularly important, since India had a foodsupply deficit, even at extremely low levels of per capita consumption, at the beginning of the economic-development process. The importance of adequate agricultural growth to the success of India's efforts at planned economic development was demonstrated dramatically, if painfully, during the years 1965-1967, when the country experienced widespread drought and a steep drop in agricultural output. Foodgrain production, for instance, declined from 89 million metric tons in 1964-1965 to 72 million tons in 1965-1966 and rose only slightly, to 78 million tons, in 1966-1967. The fall in production led to scarcity and local famines, and large imports of 9 to 10 million tons of foodgrains annually were necessary. But agricultural production in 1967-1968 and 1968-1969 has been high again, with foodgrain production in both years estimated at around 95 million tons, mainly as a result of more favorable monsoons. But the drought experience has led to a reappraisal of development objectives and to the initiation in 1966 of an agricultural development program that concentrates on new high-yielding seed varieties, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and efficient water management in selected areas to increase output rapidly.' India's three Five Year Plans included large outlays for increasing agricultural production: expenditures amounted to 36,330 million rupees, or 23.9