Agriculture is important for the Indian economy as it contributes significantly to the country’s GDP, provides employment opportunities for a large portion of the population, and supports food security. It is the primary source of livelihood for many rural households and plays a crucial role in reducing poverty and promoting rural development.
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Agriculture plays a pivotal role in the Indian economy, contributing significantly to its GDP and providing employment opportunities for a large portion of the population. Let’s delve into the details to understand why agriculture is so important in India.
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Economic Contribution:
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Agriculture accounts for about 17-18% of India’s GDP, making it an essential sector of the economy. It provides inputs for various industries like food processing, textile manufacturing, and more.
- The agricultural sector also contributes to India’s export earnings. The country is known for its diverse agricultural produce, including rice, wheat, spices, tea, and cotton, among others.
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“Agriculture not only gives riches to a nation but the only riches she can call her own.” – Samuel Johnson, English writer.
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Employment Opportunities:
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Agriculture is the largest employer in India, engaging more than 50% of the workforce. It supports the livelihoods of millions of rural households, especially those in remote areas where alternative employment opportunities are limited.
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By employing a significant portion of the population, agriculture helps reduce unemployment and underemployment rates, promoting inclusive growth and reducing poverty.
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Food Security:
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With a population of over 1.3 billion people, ensuring food security is a critical concern for India. Agriculture plays a vital role in providing a sufficient quantity of food to meet the country’s ever-growing needs.
- By cultivating crops and rearing livestock, farmers contribute to the availability of staple food items, reducing dependency on imports and stabilizing food prices.
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“The discovery of agriculture was the first big step toward a civilized life.” – Arthur Keith, Scottish anthropologist.
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Rural Development:
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Agriculture acts as a catalyst for rural development by supporting the growth of ancillary industries, improving infrastructure, and enhancing socio-economic conditions.
- Agricultural practices often lead to infrastructural development in rural areas, such as irrigation systems, roads, and transportation networks, benefiting both farmers and the overall community.
- “Rural development is a strategy that enables a specific group of people to escape from chronic poverty, dependency, and exclusion.” – IFAD, International Fund for Agricultural Development.
Table: Agricultural Exports from India in FY 2020-21
| Commodity | Export Value (in million USD) |
|---|---|
| Rice | 7,601 |
| Meat and Poultry | 6,384 |
| Spices | 3,448 |
| Tea | 793 |
| Cotton | 821 |
In conclusion, agriculture holds immense importance for the Indian economy. With its significant contribution to GDP, employment generation, food security, and rural development, the sector remains a cornerstone of the nation’s progress. As Mahatma Gandhi famously said, “India lives in her villages,” highlighting the close connection between agriculture and the overall well-being of the populace.
A video response to “Why is agriculture important for Indian economy?”
The agriculture sector in India plays a crucial role in the country’s economy. It not only contributes to international trade and boosts the economy but also provides employment opportunities, supports the population, and contributes to GDP, foreign exchange earnings, and food security. Improving productivity and efficiency of the agricultural sector is essential for sustainable economic growth and development in India.
There are additional viewpoints
The importance of agriculture in the Indian economy are:
- Agriculture is one of the key contributors to the economy. It is the backbone of the country.
- It is the primary activity of the nation.
- It provides employment opportunity to the rural agricultural as well as non-agricultural labourers.
- It is the source of food and fodder.
- It also plays an important role in international business in import and export activities.
The importance of agriculture in the Indian economy are:
Agriculture is one of the key contributors to the economy. It is the backbone of the country.
It is t
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Why is agriculture considered to be the most important sector in India?
Agriculture is one of the most important sectors of Indian economy. It is the supplier of food and raw materials in the country. At the time of independence more than 70 per cent of India’s population depended on agriculture to earn livelihood.
What is the role of agriculture in economic growth and development in India?
Agriculture not only supplies food to a country’s growing population, it also supplies raw materials to a large number of industries. In truth, most of India’s traditional industries such as sugar, tea, jute, textiles, etc.
What is agriculture in India dependent on?
Agriculture in India is dependent on the monsoon season because farmers are not well equipped with modern methods of manual irrigation. They are still dependent on monsoon rains for irrigating their crops. The Indian economy gains due to good monsoon rains in the country resulting in a good yield of crops.
Why does agriculture contribute so little to the GDP in India?
This decline is a result of several factors like governmental intervention in labour, land, and credit markets; lack of Infrastructure; small size of land holdings; poorly maintained or non-existent land records; inadequate use of modern technology; illiteracy; inadequate finance and marketing services for farm produce
Why is agriculture important in India?
Agriculture plays a vital role in the Indian economy. Over 70 per cent of the rural households depend on agriculture. Agriculture is an important sector of Indian economy as it contributes about 17% to the total GDP and provides employment to around 58% of the population. Indian agriculture has registered impressive growth over last few decades.
Is India an agro-economy?
The Indian Economy is an Agro-Economy; the difficulty with such an agroeconomy is that the agriculture sector is highly dependent on the cycle of production, distribution, and consumption. Another problem with the Agro-economy is productivity. Currently, Indian Farmers produce 2.4 tonnes of rice per hectare of land, far behind its actual potential.
Why is agriculture important for Economic Development?
Since agriculture happens be the largest industry in developing country like India, it can and must play an important role in pushing up the rate of capital formation. If it fails to do so, the whole process economic development will suffer a setback. (i) Transfer of labour and capital from farm non-farm activities.
How agro-based industries help in the industrial development of India?
These agro-based industries generate about 50 per cent of income in the manufacturing sector, thus, agriculture helps in the industrial development of this country. Agricultural products constitute a large part of the total exports of this country.
Why is agriculture important in India?
As an answer to this: Agriculture plays a vital role in the Indian economy. Over 70 per cent of the rural households depend on agriculture. Agriculture is an important sector of Indian economy as it contributes about 17% to the total GDP and provides employment to around 58% of the population. Indian agriculture has registered impressive growth over last few decades.
What is the role of Agriculture in the economy?
As an answer to this: Such a contribution can be measured in terms of its share of gross domestic product (GDP), employment, exports, etc. Another aspect of the role of agriculture is that it supports the industrial sector through the supply of raw materials on the one hand and the other. On the other hand, food for the manpower engaged in this sector.
What type of economy does India have?
The answer is: India is a country with an agrarian economy, with over 54% of the country’s land classified as arable and the agriculture industry comprising of half of the labor market. The agriculture sector is one of the most important industries in the Indian economy.
Is India an agro-economy?
In reply to that: The Indian Economy is an Agro-Economy; the difficulty with such an agroeconomy is that the agriculture sector is highly dependent on the cycle of production, distribution, and consumption. Another problem with the Agro-economy is productivity. Currently, Indian Farmers produce 2.4 tonnes of rice per hectare of land, far behind its actual potential.