GVA of agri and allied sectors up at 3.96% in 2022-23

2023-12-15 11:41:15

The growth rate of GVA (gross value added) in agriculture and allied sectors increased from 2.10 per cent in 2018-19 to 3.96 per cent in 2022-23.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Arjun Munda, Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, said the Government has adopted and implemented several policies, reforms, developmental programmes and schemes for improving the agricultural growth prospects and incomes of farmers since 2014. These have led to a rise in the GVA of the agriculture and allied sector, registering an average annual growth rate of 4 per cent over the past five years.

Referring to the provisional estimates of National Income 2022-23, released by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the Minister said the annual growth rate of agriculture (growth rate of GVA of agriculture and allied sectors) at 2011-12 prices were at 6.16 per cent in 2019-20, 4.11 per cent in 2020-21, and 3.51 per cent at 2021-22.

The Budget allocation of the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (including the Ministry of Cooperation, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, and Department of Fisheries) was only ₹30,223.88 crore in 2013-14. This has been enhanced to ₹1,25,035.79 crore in 2023-24.

As a per cent of the Government’s total Budget outlay, allocation to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has increased from 1.8 per cent in 2013-14 to 2.8 per cent in 2023-24, he said.

Farmers’ migration

To a separate question on migration of farmers, Munda said the shift in workforce from primary (agriculture) sector to secondary and tertiary sectors is a normal phenomenon of the development process experienced by countries across the world and the same is true for India as well.

Quoting the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2021-22 and 2022-23, released by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, he said the percentage of workers in the usual status engaged in agriculture and allied sector was at 45.8 per cent in 2022-23 against 45.5 in 2021-22.

Stating that agriculture is a State subject, he said the Central government supports the State governments through the implementation of various Centrally sponsored / Central sector schemes for the benefit of farmers and to ensure the growth and development of the agriculture sector in the country.