Performance of Agriculture in Andhra Pradesh a policy paper

Abstract

India’s agricultural performance over the years can be said to be quite remarkable, as food grain production increased by more than four times after Independence and had been ahead of population growth rate. During the decades after Green Revolution, not only has the dependence on imports of farm products, especially food grains, declined, but also the exports have been increasing. India’s capabilities for management of droughts and famines have also been creditable. The growth in agriculture has also contributed to the reduction in incidence of rural poverty (Parthasarathy, 1994). This growth in agriculture, which was more conspicuous after the introduction of Green Revolution technology, has over time spread to the relatively less endowed rainfed regions and farmers. India’s impressive growth during and after Green Revolution propelled overall growth rate during the 1970’s and 1980’s. Subsequently, the industry and services sectors played a key role in taking the Indian economy to almost a double-digit growth rate. However, agriculture could not maintain or take off in maintaining higher growth rate due to many reasons. The decreasing contribution of agriculture to GDP is a cause of concern because of its impact on the millions of livelihoods. International comparisons reveal a wide gulf in India’s performance between achievements in output and productivity. While India compares favourably in terms of total output, it compares poorly in terms of yield per hectare. The present situation in agriculture rightly deserves a renewed attention because of two reasons. First, at micro level farmers continue to be vulnerable to monsoon failures and their incomes badly affected. At the macro level, the fast changing international agricultural trade competition requires agriculture to be more efficient. Within India, the slow / stagnant growth in agriculture is considered to be a drag on the overall economic growth. The agriculture sector presently is expected to grow at 4% in order to achieve the nine per cent growth rate that is targeted for the economy. Among the various states of the country, Andhra Pradesh is an agriculturally important state in India. It is the third largest producer of rice and groundnuts while it is second in cotton and sunflower. It has been one of the front-runners in reaping the benefits of green revolution. However, its vast dryland tracts could not keep pace with the better-endowed regions resulting in wide inter-regional disparities. In order to address the problems of agriculture, the State has been implementing various schemes from time to time. Despite this, agriculture in the state has been exhibiting stagnation in growth and is seeking innovative policy and technology interventions. Andhra Pradesh is also an important producer of horticulture crops. The National Horticulture Mission (NHM) has identified the state as having potential to enhance Performance of Agriculture in Andhra Pradesh – A spatial and temporal analysis 2 exports of mango, banana, grapes, papaya, guava, brinjal and cabbage. Diversification has been identified as one of the potential ways of enhancing growth and ensuring stability in agriculture. Therefore an attempt is made in this document to critically analyse the performance of agriculture over time at aggregate and district level so as to arrive at appropriate policy measures towards bootings agricultural production, productivity and profitability