India's farm production to grow 5.4 per cent this fiscal

Agricultural production in the country is expected to rise to 5.4 per cent in 2010-11, with substantial increase in the area under crop and increase in the production of major crops in both the kharif and rabi seasons.

India's farm sector production achieved a growth of 3.8 per cent in the first half of 2010-11, rebounding from (-)0.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent in the preceding two years. The full-year growth in farm sector is estimated to be 5.4 per cent, an official release said today.

The growth of investment and capital formation in agriculture in the recent past have been satisfactory, the release said quoting the annual report of the department of agriculture and cooperation.

The annual report estimates total expenditure on agriculture in the first four years of the Eleventh Plan to be Rs44,413 crore, up from Rs14,952 crore in the entire 5-year period of the Tenth Plan.

Gross capital formation, or investment, in agriculture as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in this sector has substantially increased to 22.3 per cent in 2009-10 from 15.8 per cent in 2005-06. In absolute terms, the capital formation in agriculture and allied activities in 2009-10 was over Rs1,300,000 crore, according to the report.

The Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) estimates the share of agriculture in the country's GDP to have fallen to 14.2 per cent in 2010-11 from 17.4 per cent in 2006-07.