E-Paper
Agri growth short of target in first 4 yrs of 11th plan: Govt
India's annual agricultural growth during the first four years of the 11th Five Year plan has been 3.2% as against the target of 4% fixed for the plan period, Parliament was informed on Friday.
India's annual agricultural growth during the first four years of the 11th Five Year plan has been 3.2% as against the target of 4% fixed for the plan period, Parliament was informed on Friday.
This was mainly due to severe drought conditions in most parts of the country during 2009-10 and drought/deficient rainfall in some states mainly Bihar, Jharkhand, Eastern Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal in 2010-11, minister of state for agriculture Harish Rawat said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
Low level of investment in the agriculture sector during first four years of the 11th Five Year plan period (2007-2012) is also one of the underlying factors for slow growth, he said.
On steps to boost growth in farm sector, he said through the conscious efforts of the government, the investment in agriculture and allied sectors as a percentage of agriculture sector Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose from 13.5% in 2004-05 to 20.3% in 2009-10 at constant prices.
Annual plan allocation for the agriculture sector has increased from Rs 7,058.50 crore in 2007-08 to Rs 17,122.87 crore in 2011-12.
Further the flow of agricultural credit has been considerably increased and is targeted at Rs 4.75 lakh crore in 2011-12.
Minimum support prices of crops have been significantly increased. Several schemes are being implemented with a view to increase public investment in agriculture and allied sector to increase farm growth rate in the country, the minister said.
