NEW DELHI: Recommending an increase in expenditure on agricultural research, the Economic Survey 2021-22, released on Monday, noted that the average monthly income per agricultural household in India stood at Rs 10,218 in 2019 as against Rs 6,426 in 2014 – an increase of nearly 60 per cent.
The Survey has highlighted the need for improving productivity of small and marginal farmers through development and implementation of small-holding farm technologies. It also suggested use of alternative’ and organic fertiliser to protect the soil.
“The performance of the agriculture and the allied sector has been resilient to the Covid-19 shock. The sector grew at 3.6 per cent in 2020-21 and improved to 3.9 per cent in 2021-22,” the Survey noted. It has also called for a “focused and targeted approach” towards capital investment in the sector to boost farm incomes.
Referring to the data from Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) of Agricultural Households, the Economic Survey said, “The SAS-2021 reveals that the average monthly income per agricultural household, as per ‘paid out expenses’ approach, works out to be `10,218. The average monthly income per agricultural household was `6,426 as per the last SAS Report of 2014, estimated by the same approach.”
However, the SAS reports also show the increasing fragmentation of holdings. The average size of household ownership holdings has declined from 0.725 hectare in 2003 to 0.512 hectare in 2019. According to the survey, research shows every rupee spent on agricultural research and development yields much better returns. Increasing R&D spending on agriculture is, therefore, not only vital for food security but also from the socio-economic point of view.
Stating that the allied agri sectors are steadily emerging to be high growth segments, the survey said increasing importance of allied sectors in growth and income of the farmers indicates that focus needs to shift more towards harnessing the potential of allied activities.