(GIST OF KURUKSHETRA) Agriculture Sector Contributing in Rural Development

[January-2022]

Agriculture Sector Contributing in Rural Development

Context:

Agriculture and allied sectors play a crucial role in the process of economic development of a country like India where the mainstay of large proportion of population is agriculture.
As per the latest census data, 68.8 percent of the country’s total population and 72.4 percent of the workforce reside in rural areas.
More than 50 percent population of the country is directly dependent on agriculture and allied sectors for the livelihood. Agriculture in India plays a vital role in gross value addition, employment generation and foreign exchange earnings.

Role of Agriculture in Rural Economy:

There has been a tremendous increase in production of agriculture and allied sectors during the planned era of development. The real gross value added (RGVA) at constant prices by primary sector (including agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining and quarrying) which was to the tune of Rs. 1,50,191 crore in 1950-51, shot up to Rs. 23,25,548 crore in 2020-21, registering a compound growth rate of 3.99 percent per annum.
On the other hand, RGVA by secondary sector witnessed the highest annual compound growth rate (ACGR) of 6.51 percent, closely followed by tertiary sector (6.48 percent) during the past seven decades. Due to structural changes in the economy, the contribution of the primary sector to gross value added has steadily declined from 53.71 percent in 1951 to 18.85 percent in 2020-21.
However, the declining share of this sector does not undermine its significance in employment generation, foreign exchange earnings and providing food security to the ever increasing population of the country.

Role of Agriculture in Employment Generation:

Agriculture not only makes the country secure in terms of food, fodder and raw-material for industries, it along with the allied sectors also serves as the source of livelihood for the large proportion of rural population of the country. The proportion of population depending directly or indirectly on agriculture for employment opportunities is more than that of any other sector in India.
The significance of agriculture and allied sector is brought out by the fact that as per census 2011, of the 313 million main workers in the country, 166 million (56.6 percent) were engaged in these activities. As high as 70 percent, of rural households still depend on agriculture for their livelihood in India.
During the past seven decades particularly after the adoption of new agriculture strategy, there has been a perceptible change in the structure of rural employment. The share of agriculture in total employment was nearly 69 percent of the workforce in 1950-51. It steadily came down to 59 percent in 1990-91 and further decelerated to 38 percent in 2020-21. This is in sharp contrast with rural non-agricultural employment, which increased from 31 percent to 62 percent during the same period.

The Challenges:

India, being the second largest agro based economy in the world, is poised to be the agricultural powerhouse of the world. However, the agriculture sector is plagued by several challenges with low productivity, inadequate capital inflow, environmental issues and operational gaps etc.
The country has achieved self-sufficiency in food grains but the production is lopsided being cereal centric, regionally biased and resource intensive.
The resource intensive ways of Indian agriculture has raised serious sustainability issues. Increasing stress on water resources of the country is also critical one which definitely needs the realignment and rethinking of policies in this context. Agriculture crop residue burning and demolition of waste also continues to be a major concern. Reducing rural poverty and inequality through a socially inclusive employment strategy encompassing both farm as well as non-farm sector is also a major challenge before the policy makers and the government.

Concluding Remarks

Agriculture and allied sectors play a vital role in a developing economy like India by reducing poverty, unemployment and inequality, ensuring food security and achieving sustainable development.
The dynamics of agricultural growth in India reflect a decline in the share of agriculture in national gross value added, employment generation and foreign exchange earnings. But, it still remains the single largest employment generation sector and source of livelihood to a large proportion of population.
To improve productivity in agriculture the focus of policies has been on the rational use of inputs like seeds, water, fertilisers and agriculture machinery.
To improve production and productivity of agriculture, adoption of quality inputs including high yield variety seeds is critical. There is an urgent need to expand the area under irrigation by adopting the appropriate technologies like sprinkler, drip irrigation and rainwater harvesting.
The rational and efficient use of fertilisers and pesticides is also essential in order to increase productivity and avoid crop yield losses due to pests and diseases. In order to supplement income from crop cultivation, the focus of attention should be on promoting ancillary industries, non-farm activities and service units in rural areas so that the surplus manpower can get gainful employment during the slack season.
Access to institutional credit at affordable rate is also desired to purchase expensive agricultural inputs. Further, the significance of timely government intervention in agriculture marketing can also not be denied.
To attract unemployed educated youth into agribusiness and agripreneurship, special impetus on creating scientific temper and fostering innovative spirit among the rural youth is also required.
To providing timely advisory services to farmers to adopt best farm practices, technology, through market information system is also essential. An appropriate policy coupled with a strong strategy to strengthen the rural non-farm sector deserves to be at the top priority of Government and policy makers.