what was the role of farmers in the development of India ?
Answers
Contribution to National Income:
From the very beginning, agriculture is contributing a major portion to our national income. In 1950-51, agriculture and allied activities contributed about 59 per cent of the total national income. Although the share of agriculture has been declining gradually with the growth of other sectors but the share still remained very high as compared to that of the developed countries of the world. For example, the share of agriculture has declined to 54 per cent in 1960-61, 48 per cent in 1970-71, 40 per cent in 1980-81 and then to 18.0 per cent in 2008-09, whereas in U.K. and U.S.A. agriculture contributes only 3 per cent to the national income of these countries.
2. Source of Livelihood:
In India over two-thirds of our working population are engaged directly on agriculture and also similarly depend for their livelihood. According to an estimate, about 66 per cent of our working population is engaged in agriculture at present in comparison to that of 2 to 3 per cent in U.K. and U.S.A., 6 per cent in France and 7 per cent in Australia. Thus the employment pattern of our country is very much common to other under-developed countries of the world.