Agricultural sector in India employs the largest number of people but it’s contribution to national income is lowest. Why?
Answers
ndia is an agricultural country and 70% of its population live in villages. Naturally it has a dominant share in national economy from 1947.
However as per 2015 estimates agriculture contributes 16.1%, industry 29.5% and service sector 54.4% of GDP of the country. Thus we find although many people are employed in agriculture its productivity is low as people remain unemployed for part of a year due to seasonal nature of it. Here lies a scope for increasing the share of industry and services beyond the present level.
Major exports from India are software, textiles, iron ore, leather products.
More than 50% of India's population is employed in agriculture sector but it contributes to less than 17% of its GDP. Its reasons include :
1. Low productivity.
2. Seasonal nature of agriculture makes farmers unemployed for half a year.
3. Agriculture products of India are mostly exported to developing and least developed countries which fetches less rates.
4. Less investment in agriculture.