According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s (MoSPI) Second Advance Estimates of National Income, 2022-23, the growth rate of Gross Value Added in agricultural and related sectors is predicted to be 3.3% in 2022-23.
Over the previous four years, agricultural growth has slowed to 3.5% in 2021-22, 4.1% in 2020-21, and 6.2% in 2019-20.
Arpita Mukherjee, Professor, ICRIER, explains, “The second advance estimates help the government decide on the allocation of Union Budget. In policy-making, agriculture and the food supply chain have been a focus area. Post-pandemic when the economy started recovering, agriculture saw good growth. During the pandemic, when the output of many other sectors contracted, agriculture has seen good growth. Post-pandemic many other sectors have recovered. However, agriculture in India continues to depend on rain and climate conditions, which makes its growth unpredictable. The government has taken various measures to enhance the productivity of the agriculture sector and reduce wastages in the supply chains.”
Meanwhile, the government has informed Parliament that it has implemented several policies, reforms, and developmental programmes aimed at improving the agricultural sector’s growth rate, including better access to irrigation through the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), special attention to infrastructure creation through the Agri Infrastructure Fund (AIF) with a size of Rs 100,000 crore, the formation and promotion of 10,000 FPOs, and the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).