The deaths of five farmers in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur district has brought the crisis in agriculture centre stage. While the latest incident may have got media coverage, the fact is that the crisis has been in the making for some time. It intensified in the last one year but signs of farmer unease and severe distress were visible as early as late 2014. In the last year alone, large-scale farmer mobilization and agitations have been seen in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.
How did things come to such a pass? Simply put, a colossal failure to read the tea leaves. The national accounts (new series) data clearly demonstrates that agriculture is facing a severe slowdown. The net value added (NVA) in agriculture declined at 0.23% per annum in the first two years of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. Even accounting for bumper production last year, gross value added (GVA) in agriculture has grown at 1.77% in the last three years. Read More....
How did things come to such a pass? Simply put, a colossal failure to read the tea leaves. The national accounts (new series) data clearly demonstrates that agriculture is facing a severe slowdown. The net value added (NVA) in agriculture declined at 0.23% per annum in the first two years of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. Even accounting for bumper production last year, gross value added (GVA) in agriculture has grown at 1.77% in the last three years. Read More....