Agriculture and Allied Sectors

As per the Agricultural Statistics at a Glance Report 2015, in the year 2012-13 the net area sown under various crops in India was 13.99 crore hectares. Net area sown refers to the total area sown with crops and orchards. In its estimation the area sown more than once in the same year is counted only once. According to the 'Annual Report, 2022-23' of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare (as per the Land Use Statistics 2018-19), the total geographical area of the country is 328.7 million hectares, of which 139.3 million hectares is the reported net sown area and 197.3 million hectares is the gross cropped area with a cropping intensity of 141.6%. The net area sown works out to 42.4% of the total geographical area. The net irrigated area is 71.6 million hectares.

As per the figures of 2009-10, India's average cropping intensity was 135,79%. As per the Land Use Statistics 2018- 19 (Data presented in Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Annual Report 2022-23), the average cropping intensity is 141.6%.

Among the given years, in 2004-05 the foodgrain production had a negative growth rate. As per the 2nd Advance Estimates of production of foodgrains for 2023-24 and previous estimates, in last 15 years the total foodgrain production has recorded negative growth in the year 2009-10, 2012-13, 2014-15 and 2015-16.

As per the 2nd A.E. of National Income, 2023-24 and 1 R.E. of National Income, 2022-23 (released on 29 February, 2024), among the given years agriculture and allied sectors (agriculture, forestry and fishing) had reported negative growth rate at (-) 0.2 percent in 2014-15. In last five years, growth rates of agriculture and allied sector at constant (2011-12) basic prices are as follows:

Among the given years, the average annual growth rate (at constant prices ) of Agriculture and allied sectors was negative in 2002-03

The agriculture and allied sectors had shown a negative growth rate of about 1% in the year 1997-98.

Agriculture demonstrated negative growth in the Third Five Year Plan. During the years 1961-65, the growth rate of agriculture was recorded at (-) 1.0%

After the green revolution there has been multifold increase in the production of foodgrains in the country. The production of foodgrains increased from 50.8 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 211.9 million tonnes in 2001-02. Thus, in this period production of foodgrains increased more than four times and near self-sufficiency has been achieved in India. Indian import of foodgrains was only 4.5% of the total import value in 2001-02. So the Assertion and Reason both ar correct and Reason is the correct explanation of Assertion . As per the 2nd Advance Estimates of production of foodgrains for 2023-24 (Released on 29 February, 2024) India's foodgrain production is estimated at 309.35 million tonnes. It was at 315.62 and record 329.69 million tonnes in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 crop year respectively.

As a result of the green revolution, there has been a remarkable increase in food production in India but the population also increased rapidly. Due to the compliance with the capitalistic policies initiated in 1990's, the benefits of rapid economic growth in the transitional Indian Economy did not reach the lower sections of the society. Despite of availability of adequate foodgrains, the weaker sections have no access to it because of their low purchasing power. In this context it can be said that "National food security has been attained by India but family security has not been able to achieve so for".

with a large and further growing population to feed and many people working in agriculture, agriculture is critical for India's development. Major reform and strengthening of India's agricultural research and extension systems is one of the most important needs for agricultural growth. These services have declined over time due to chronic underfunding of infrastructure and operations, no replacement of aging researchers or broad access to state-of-the-art technologies. Thus, significant technical and institutional reforms in Indian agriculture are required to feed the growing population.

A significant number of farmers in many parts of India still rely on monsoon rains and natural soil fertility for agriculture. In India, irrigation facilities are limited, and the majority of farmers are still dependent on rainfall. A significant portion of Indian farmers still rely on traditional and outdated farming methods due to inadequate availability of fertilizers and other resources in many areas and farmers' unawareness of the latest farming practices, techniques and technologies that can help them to increase crop yields.

Hence, both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).