Role of Agriculture in developing economy like India

Introduction-

Agriculture sectors play a vital role in the process of economic development of a country.it
has been witnessed that in developing country the focus of government and their policies was
revolving around industrialization (especially in case of India). the question which arises here
is that can a nation achieve prosperity, wealth and development without focusing on
agriculture or without being self-efficient in Agriculture?
In the history of developed economies like U.K, U.S.A and Japan there was agriculture
revolution before the industrial revolution. Thus, it can be said that without being efficient in
agriculture sectors one country cannot achieve its goal of development and there is a relation
between industries and agriculture sectors, they are not alternatives but related to each other.
Even Developed countries who are dominant in industrial sectors were once dominated in
Agriculture sectors. Thus, it implies the value of agriculture in the process of development
which can not be ignored. Over the last century the global population has quadrupled. Rising
population is indeed a problem for the world, its effect is in every field, every sector. In 1915,
there were 1.8 billion people in the world, today according to the recent data current world
population is 7.6 billion. (1)
This growth along with rising incomes in developing countries are driving up global food
demand. With the rising of population, the demand for food is increasing. Food demand is
expected to increase between 59% to 98% by 2050. This will definitely shape the agricultural
market like we have never seen before. There will be crisis or shortage of food if demand and
supply is not in equilibrium, thus it implicates the importance of agricultural which form the
basic of the country and provide the items which are necessary to survive to their people.
India is a country where around 60 -70% population are involved in agriculture directly or
indirectly and it contributes 16 -17% of GDP. Though India is no longer an "agricultural
economy", some 70 percent of its rural households still depend primarily on agriculture for
their livelihood but still a large population of Indians do not get sufficient food. Agriculture
provides employment opportunities for rural people on a large scale in underdeveloped and
developing countries. It is an important source of livelihood. In case of India generally
landless workers and marginal farmers are engaged in non-agricultural jobs like handicrafts,
furniture, textiles, leather, metal work, processing industries, and in other service sectors.
These rural units fulfil merely local demands. According to data in India about 70.6% of total
labour force depends upon agriculture.

1.www.Worldometers.info