The agricultural sector contributes 20.2% to the GVA of the Indian economy

The contribution of the agricultural sector increased by 20.2% to the gross value added (GVA) of the country’s economy, revealed the recently released provisional estimate of annual national income.

Data from the National Statistics Office (NSO) further revealed that the percentage of people usually working in the agricultural sector is 45.6%, which means that out of a hundred people in India, 45 are directly or indirectly engaged. in the agricultural sector.

The data was published in the periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by the NSO, a senior agriculture ministry official said.

He added that the share of agriculture and related sectors in the total gross value added (GVA) of the economy is 20.2% in the year 2020-21 at the current price.

The ministry further said that there were more than 9.75 million women working in the agricultural sector. “According to the latest census conducted by the Registrar General of India, the total number of women farmers as cultivators is 3.60 crore and the agricultural labor force is 6.15 crore in the country.”

With the aim of helping farmers in the agricultural sector, the ministry launched “Innovation and Development of Agribusiness” under the leadership of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY-RAFTAAR). The idea behind the program was to promote innovation and agro-entrepreneurship by providing financial support and nurturing the incubation ecosystem.

This ministry has appointed five Knowledge Partners (KP) as centers of excellence and twenty-four RKVY-RAFTAAR (R-ABI) agri-food incubators from across the country for the implementation of this program.

So far, 173 women startups and entrepreneurs have been supported under the program. In addition, 50 other Agricultural Business Incubation Centers (ABICs) have been established and are operational in the ICAR network to help potential women start-ups.