AGRICULTURE PERFORMANCE AND ITS PROSPECTS
Wheat Field in Nawad, Bihar. Source: (flickr) Vartika Singh
The recent article in the June issue of Yojana Magazine, by P K Joshi and Anjani Kumar, IFPRI looks into the performance of agriculture and factors responsible for its growth and way forward. Agriculture has shown a promising growth over years with average 3.5 per cent growth as against the targeted 4 per cent per annum and have helped in reducing poverty. Impressive growth of livestock, fisheries and diversification towards high value also helped in increase in income of small farmers. Wide spread adoption of high yielding varieties, irrigation, fertilizers, rural credit and rise in literacy contributed to the growth but still a lot needs to be achieved for ensuring food and nutritional security. The author’s lists the need to bridge the yield gap to enhance agricultural output, such as investment in location specific research for technology development and adoption. Investment in less developed regions needs to be pushed, with policy measures such as land reforms, rural credit, and public investment. Effective coordination in research, education and extension will also help to enhance growth and reduce poverty.
