A road to economic revival runs through agriculture.

GS-III: A road to economic revival runs through agriculture.

News

One of the world’ fastest growing economies,India is now facing sluggish growth with the RBI sharply cutting GDP growth forecast to 6.1% for 2019-2020 which is slowest in last 6 years.

Effects on primary sectors:

The ripples of the slowdown are gradually moving to the primary sectors which are already reeling under an unprecedented confluence of pressure. Real agriculture and allied GVA grew by 2.9% during 2011-12 to 2017-18 while National Agriculture Policy 2000 it should be around 4% to attain an overall economic growth of 8%.

The current growth rate in the farm sector is less than adequate to take on developmental challenges originating from SDGs mainly zero hunger, gender equality, no poverty, and life on land. The key to addressing the slowdown lies in a selective group of reforms in the key sectors.

Reasons for the Slowdown in the Economic Growth:

The slowdown in the Indian economy is partly cyclical and partly structural.
Two cyclical factors are Shadow banking stress (NBFC crisis) and weaker global demand.

Structural factors may include:

The rates of savings and investment in the Indian economy have declined, as also exports and total credit.
This has led to a slowdown among the major industries, like the automobiles, diamond, and textiles industry, and several Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) are experiencing a continuous decline, which has led to the retrenchment of 3.5 lakh workers so far.
Agriculture is in crisis today on account of rising costs of inputs and low prices of produce, and low public investments in this sector.
Apart from it, there is income stagnation in urban areas.
The slowdown in consumption is the major worry for India’s economic slump(consumption has been the main driver of India’s growth).
There is a sharp fall in Private Consumption and as well as Public Expenditure.
Externally, the US-China trade war is the leading dampener in India's growth story.
In addition to this, the timing of some of the policy changes, the goods and services tax, demonetisation, measures to curb corruption, and the move to flexible inflation targeting led to a combination of lower inflation, higher real rates, and lower nominal growth.

Way Forward:

To occasional dip on growth due to various reasons will slow the pace to achieving the $5 trillion economy by 2024. This is the right time to execute a slew of doable agricultural reforms as the role of agriculture in reversing the slowdown is immense in the light of its nearly 20% contribution to a $5 trillion economy. Therefore, a blend of efforts from a range of sectors agriculture and allied sectors is warranted to enable overall growth.

Source: THE HINDU

Join Our Telegram

Delhi needs to do more to protect and deepen ties with Dhaka.

A welcome move, but it’s unlikely to spur demand

Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana

06 Feb, 24
SHARE

Recently, Prime Minister announced Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana under which 1 crore households will get rooftop solar power systems. India’s Status of Current Solar Capacity India currently stands at 4th place globally in solar power capacity. As per Ministry of New an

Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA)- NGO

06 Feb, 24
SHARE

The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA) registration of two prominent non-governmental organisations (NGOs) — Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and World Vision India (WVI) have been cancelled this month. What is FCRA? Key provisions of FCRA, 2010 Key aspects Description

Voice clone-AI

06 Feb, 24
SHARE

Voice clone fraud has been on the rise in India. AI voice cloning – It is the process of creating a synthetic replica of a person’s voice through machine learning and speech synthesis technology.It is called as voice deepfakesor audio deepfakes. Objective – To achieve a high level of na

Science communication- how to promote

06 Feb, 24
SHARE

Steps taken by India to promote Science Communication Publications and Information Directorate (PID) - An organisation under Council of Science and Industrial Research (CSIR) established in 1951 for publishing and disseminating scientific information in India. National science magazines- The PI

Universal Basic Income (UBI)- Analysis

05 Feb, 24
SHARE

Universal Basic Income (UBI) can strengthen welfare architecture and unlock the nation’s latent demographic potential. UBI - It is an income support mechanism typically intended to reach all or a very large portion of the population regardless of their earnings or employment status. Objective- To provide enough to co