Don’t ignore the farm sector, President tells private players
He also called for greater private participation in the farm sector and utmost attention to liberate agriculture from the vagaries of weather, improve productivity and establish "farm-firm" linkages to boost the share of the sector in the country's overall gross domestic product.
The farm and allied sectors grew at 2.8% in 2011-12 after expanding at an impressive 7% a year before, mainly on a low base. Some analysts had cautioned that the sectors would continue to disappoint, especially due to poor monsoon in June and July and may post a meagre 0.5% expansion in 2012-13.
Good expansion of the agriculture and allied sectors may prop up the overall economic growth in 2012-13, which expected to be the slowest in around a decade, as industrial sectors continue to struggle amid slowing investments. While the industrial segment, including manufacturing, mining and power generation, expanded 2.8% in the second quarter from 3.7% last year, services sector growth also slowed to 7.2%, compared with 8.8% a year before. The agriculture and allied sectors, too, recorded a paltry expansion of 1.2% in the Q2, compared with 3.1% last year.
The contribution of agriculture to the nation's income has gradually declined over the years — from 23.4% of the GDP during the ninth five year planperiod to 19% during the 10th
Be the first to comment.
