Agricultural Growth in India-A Review of Experiences and Prospects

A Review of Experiences and Prospects V M Rao R S Deshpande While the agricultural sector has witnessed some startling breakthroughs, doubts are now being expressed whether the growth is fast enough and sustained enough to carry the economy through the next few critical decades. This paper examines the shifts in the sources of growth since the sixties from area increase to improvements in yields; growth in irrigation and in the use of modern inputs; and takes a brief look at the recent changes in the agriculture's terms of trade. Against this background the authors pose the complex question of the relationship between agricultural growth and the welfare of the rural masses and identify three major frontiers which need to be crossed to push agricultural growth beyond its present limits.