The performance of the agriculture sector was not better in a decade

08-Oct-2024 02:06 PM

New Delhi. Although a report of NITI Aayog has said that the performance of agriculture and related sectors was overall better during the last decade, the data shows that the real growth took place in the livestock, forestry, horticulture and fisheries sector, while there was fluctuation in the production of main agricultural crops. According to the report, the average growth rate of agriculture and related sectors at constant prices was 2.9 percent in the decade from 1984-85 to 1993-94 and there was no change in the average growth rate in the period from 1994-95 to 2003-04, but after that the growth rate started increasing well. From 2004-05 to 2013-14, there was a UPA government at the Center and from 2014-15 to 2023-24, there was an NDA government. During both these decades, good progress was recorded in the agriculture sector. During the UPA regime, the agricultural growth rate was 3.5 percent, while during the NDA regime it improved further to 3.7 percent.

But the difference between the two was that during the UPA regime, there was a greater increase in the production of agricultural crops, while during the NDA regime, there was a greater development in the related sectors. During the last decade, the main focus of the government was on dairy production, agriculture and fisheries production, while less attention was paid to increasing the production of food grains, pulses, oilseeds and cotton etc. As a result, in recent years, there has been a tremendous increase in the import of pulses and edible oils, while at one time it seemed that the country would soon become self-sufficient in the matter of pulses. The production of coarse grains stagnated at a certain limit and the expected increase in cotton production also could not be made. But the condition of livestock and dairy development remained good.