India still lives in its villages and agriculture continues to be a major source of livelihood for a vast section of the Indian population (almost 60%) and it is a sector, which we cannot afford to ignore. India has always been an agricultural-driven country but with the liberalisation and globalisation of the economy, other sectors such as services, manufacturing and financials are also contributing to a sizeable chunk of the overall economy. India is not only a major producer of most of the food grains and other agri commodities but is also an exporter of many agri commodities. A revival in this sector was witnessed over the past couple of years with the agricultural sector over three years recording an average growth of about 4.9%, from 2005-06 to 2007-08. Food grain production during 2005-06 to 2007-08 had shown an annual increase of 10 million tonne, but in 2008-09 it improved only marginally by 1.97 million tonne to stand at 222.85 million tonne - short of its target of 233 million tonne. The sector, which accounted for 21.7% of the GDP in 2003-04, accounted for only 17.8% of the GDP in 2007-08.

The Budget 2009 - 2010 has laid great emphasis on the agricultural and rural growth. Our honourable finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee has set a 4% growth rate for this sector. The agriculture credit flow, which was Rs 2,87,000 crore in 2008-09, has now been set to Rs 3,25,000 crore for the year 2009-10. It can be rightly said that in this phase of recession, improved agricultural growth, which would lead to an overall increase in consumption and demand, which may act as antidote for the Indian economy and may shield the nation from the global recession to a great extent.

... contd.