#News: #India Agriculture employs about half of India’s work force, growth is slowing and uneven

Sunday, May 6, 2012

#India Agriculture employs about half of India’s work force, growth is slowing and uneven

Gary Jones

9:07 AM - Public

Agriculture employs about half of India’s work force, for example, yet the agricultural revolution that flourished in the 1970s has slowed. Crop yields remain stubbornly low, transport and water infrastructure is poor, and the legal system is hostile to foreign investment in basic agriculture and to modern agribusiness. Note that the earlier general growth bursts of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan were all preceded by significant gains in agricultural productivity.

For all of India’s economic progress, it is hard to find comparable stirrings in Indian agriculture today. It is estimated that half of all Indian children under the age of 5 suffer from malnutrition.

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India’s growth is slowing and uneven, it is a difficult place to do business and it is risking another generation of millions of poor people as it fails to enact market reforms.

Jim Lai9:19 AM

Only half? This article from October has a different claim:
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/-India-Challenged-to-Provide-Jobs-Education-to-Young-Population-132915668.html
Quote: Well known Indian author and columnist Gurcharan Das said the farming sector, where two thirds of the country works, is in a state of decline and earnings are meager.

Jim Lai9:25 AM

Another figure, which is between the other two estimates. The state of affairs suggests that too many accountants are in charge.
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-01-02/news/30587452_1_agriculture-private-sector-supply-chain
Quote: Rejuvenating India's agriculture sector, which provides livelihood to nearly 60% of the workforce, needs to be made central to the inclusive growth endeavour. India's current policies for the agriculture sector are geared towards short-term solutions and revenue expenditure rather than long-term capital investment solutions. The dependence on subsidies squeezes government spends on critical infrastructure, technology and credit, in the absence of which farmers use inefficient methods of cultivation.

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