Recent Developments in Indian Agriculture-A State Level Analysis

A State Level Analysis G S Bhalla Gurmail Singh This paper presents the results of an analysis of state level data on area and output of 43 crops for the 30 years from 1962-65 to 1992-95. It reveals that there was a marked acceleration in the growth rate of agricultural output in India during 1980-83 to 1992-95 as compared with the earlier periods. Furthermore,.agricultural growth had become regionally much more diversified. The period 1980-83 to 1992-95 was also characterised by important cropping pattern changes away from coarse cereals towards rice and wheat cultivation on the one hand and towards oilseeds on the other. Finally, the 1980s also witnessed a widespread acceleration in per male agricultural worker productivity in many Indian states. If sustained, high labour productivity growth is likely not only to result in higher wages but also to trigger growth in the non-agricultural sector through input output and consumption linkages.