Report of Sub-Committee of National Development Council on Agriculture and related issues

Abstract

Indian Agriculture has made impressive strides in last five decades. The highest Gross Cropped Area of 190.84 million hectare has been realized during 2003-04, an increase of about 26.7% over that of quinquennium (1956-1961) average of 150.51 million hectare. During this period, food grains production has increased over 4 times from about 51 million tonnes during early fifties to 208.30 million tonnes during 2005-06. The composition of food grains turned out to be 195.19 million tonnes of cereals and 13.11 million tonnes of pulses by the end of the year 2005-06. It has contributed significantly in achieving self-sufficiency of food in the country. The annual production of oilseeds, which was only 5.16 million tonnes during early fifties, has risen to 27.73 million tonnes during 2005-06. Thus, agriculture sector has witnessed massive growth on long term basis.