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Agriculture plays a vital role in India’s economy.
Over 58 per cent of the rural Indian households depend on agriculture as their principal means of livelihood.
Agriculture, along with fisheries and forestry, is one of the largest contributors to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
As per estimates by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the share of agriculture and allied sectors (including agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishery) was 15.35 per cent of GDP during 2015–16. Agricultural export constitutes 10 per cent of the country’s exports and is the fourth-largest exported principal commodity.
Two Years of the Narendra Modi government has sharpened the distress within the agrarian sector. Farmers are under acute distress with no effort from the government to revive the sector.
Credit to the sector has dried up and very little investments have gone into improving infrastructure to support the growth of agriculture.
Newclick interviewed Vijoo Krishnan, Joint Secretary, All India Kissan Sabha.
According to him, the situation in the country’s agricultural sector has worsened in the last two years due to the constant neglect from the government.
Excerpts from the interview.
This interview was first posted on Newsclick.