India's agriculture sector has accounted for only 16.6 per cent of its gross domestic product so far this plan period (2007-12) despite record production of farm commodities in the 2007-08 season, according to the latest government estimate. The share of the farm sector in the GDP is down to 16.6 per cent from a whopping 46.3 per cent during the First Plan period (1951-56), according to the data presented by Minister of State for Agriculture K V Thomas in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today. The sector contributed 17.8 per cent to the overall GDP in the last Plan period (2002-07), he said. For the plan period 2007-12, the figures for only the first fiscal of the duration (2007-08) have been released. The declining share of the sector in the GDP can be a major cause of concern for policy makers this year as the forecast of a "below-normal monsoon" during the on-going Kharif has cast a gloom on production. Moreover, the dependence on farming has not dipped that dramatically. About 65 per cent of the world's second-most populous nation still depends upon farming for livelihood. Even though the country has witnessed record foodgrain production of 230.78 million tonnes in the 2007-08 season followed by another year of bumper output of the grains at 229.85 million tonnes, the share of the sector in the GDP has not shown any improvement.
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