Agriculture no longer main rural income source

But this neither seen a marked rise in job opportunities in these areas nor bridged disparity in worker productivity

Non-farm activities, not agriculture, generated more than two-thirds of the income in rural areas. But this hasn’t translated into significant rise in employment opportunities in these areas or bridged disparities in worker productivity, a discussion paper floated by agriculture economist and NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand said.

The paper, released on Wednesday, found that in the four decades from 1970-71 to 2011-12, rural output increased almost seven times (at constant prices) and rural economy turned more non-agricultural, with the share of agriculture in rural income reduced to 39 per cent. But rural employment did not even double during this period.

“In fact,