Agricultural growth and the small farmer in India

Agriculture is the way of life in rural areas. People use their own lands for growing different crops such as cereals (rice, wheat, maize), millets (pearl millet, finger millet, jowar), pulses (red gram, black gram, bengal gram), oilseeds (groundnut, soybean, linseed, mustard, rapeseed, sunflower, safflower, castor seed), vegetables (tomato, okra, cucurbits, cole crops, brinjal), horticultural crops (coconut, mango, guava, banana), commercial crops (cotton, jute, sugar cane), tuber crops (potato, tapioca, yam, cocoyams), beverages (tea, coffee) and spices (pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, coriander, fenugreek, onion). A small, marginal, or big farmer is called so based on the size of land he owns. In India, nearly 60 per cent of the farmers belong to marginal category with an average of 0.4 ha land. The area of cultivation is divided into rainfed, irrigated and semi-dry. More than 60 per cent of the country’s population is dependent on the primary sector, directly or through linkages, for earning their livelihood. In this light, rapid growth of the agricultural sector is essential not only to achieve self-reliance at the national level but also for household food security and to bring about equity in distribution of wealth resulting in rapid reduction of poverty. In recent years, the share of agriculture in India's GDP has declined steadily, reflecting a structural shift in the composition. The analysis in this paper would cover the input side of agriculture. An analysis of the agricultural output with special emphasis on diversification in the nineties has also been provided. The production trends in major sub-categories, i.e., foodgrain, oilseeds, cash crops, plantations, etc., have been analysed. The analysis would be followed by the detailed discussion of productivity trends in Indian agriculture, both at the national and state level. The issue of taxing agricultural income has received much attention in the recent period after submission of Kelkar Committee Report. The question has been explored here. Finally, the findings are summarized.