Photos: Rural India inches toward recovery, signs of benefit to economy

With agriculture contributing about 16% to the country’s gross domestic product, what happens in the sector determines not only Prime Minter Modi’s election fate, but also growth prospects for the $2.3 trillion economy. One village in rural Karnataka appears enjoying early signs of economic recovery encouraged by better rains, increased prices for grain and crops as well as government subsidies. These follow years of distress brought by back-to-back droughts coupled with the currency demonetisation which hit liquidity in late 2016.

Updated on: Mar 16, 2018 10:41 AM IST

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A farmer observes soil being unloaded at an areca nut farm in the village of Kuragunda in Karnataka on March 8, 2018. Encouraged by relatively good rains, better prices for crops and a state government subsidy, the inhabitants of Kuragunda are enjoying early signs of a recovery in the agricultural sector. If sustained, it could mean a turnaround from years of distress since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014 and bolster his re-election chances next year. (Prashanth Vishwanathan / Bloomberg)

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A man carries grass for his goats through the village of Kuragunda in Karnataka on March 8, 2018. With almost 70% of India’s 1.3 billion people living in rural villages and agriculture contributing about 16% of gross domestic product, what happens in the sector determines not only Prime Minister Modi’s election fate, but also growth prospects for the $2.3 trillion economy. (Prashanth Vishwanathan / Bloomberg)

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Women sort nuts outside their home in Kuragunda in Karnataka on March 08, 2018. Hit by criticism that he’d neglected his rural base and after his party’s worst electoral showing in two decades in Gujarat, Modi has pledged to double farmers’ incomes by 2022, raise the support prices on additional crops and spend more on irrigation and infrastructure in rural areas. (Prashanth Vishwanathan / Bloomberg)

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A farmer prepares to jump from a John Deere tractor, manufactured by Deere & Co., in the village of Kuragunda in Karnataka on March 8, 2018. (Prashanth Vishwanathan / Bloomberg)

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Tools hang from a wall at the Agri Services workshop in Tumakuru, Karnataka on March 8, 2018. A Bloomberg Economics index that tracks the rural economy shows tractor and two-wheeler sales are up and the government is spending more. Monsoon rains are set for a third good year -- another sign of hope for an industry that was beset by back-to-back droughts followed by a disruptive cash ban in late 2016. (Prashanth Vishwanathan / Bloomberg)

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A delivery driver unloads a Mahindra Yuvraj 215 NXT tractor, manufactured by Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., from a truck down a ramp outside the the S R Farm Equipments dealership in Tumakuru, Karnataka on March 8, 2018. (Prashanth Vishwanathan / Bloomberg)

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A farmer, left, stands with his family next to his newly purchased Mahindra 475 DI tractor, manufactured by Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., outside his home in the village of Kuragunda in Karnataka, India, on Thursday, March 8, 2018. (Prashanth Vishwanathan / Bloomberg)

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A farmer drives a Mahindra 475 DI tractor, manufactured by Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., through an areca nut farm in the village of Kuragunda in Karnataka on March 8, 2018. (Prashanth Vishwanathan / Bloomberg)