Published Paper Details:

Abstract : Agriculture is the only means of living for almost two-thirds of the employed class in India. India�s already large population is expected to become the world�s largest in the next 20 years, while its economy will soon overtake Japan�s to become the world�s third largest. Agriculture plays a vital role in the Indian economy. Over 70 per cent of the rural households depend on agriculture. Agriculture is an important sector of Indian economy as it contributes about 17% to the total GDP and provides employment to over 60% of the population. Indian agriculture has registered impressive growth over last few decades. Agriculture is a critical sector of the Indian economy. Though its contribution to the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country has fallen from about 30 percent in 1990-91 to less than 15 percent in 2011-12, a trend that is expected in the development process of any economy, agriculture yet forms the backbone of development. The failure to achieve targeted growth in agriculture has resulted from the inadequacies of the provision of the critical public goods such as research and development, extension services, surface irrigation, rural infrastructure, etc. on which agricultural growth thrives as well as inappropriate policies. India, which is one of the largest agricultural-based economies, remained closed until the early 1990s. Agriculture is an important part of India�s economy and at present it is among the top two farm producers in the world. This sector provides approximately 52 percent of the total number of jobs available in India and contributes around 18.1 percent to the GDP. In order to achieve the targeted growth in 12th Plan, we need to address some of these inadequacies. The pricing of agricultural inputs such as irrigation, electricity for pumping water, fertilizer, etc. needs rationalization.