Farm sector to register positive growth this fiscal: Pawar

The government today exuded confidence that agriculture sector growth rate will remain positive this fiscal despite the adverse impact of drought and floods on the crops.

"We don't expect negative growth. No question of minus. It will be plus," Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said at the Economic Editors' Conference.

The agriculture and allied sectors, which account for 18 per cent of the country's overall gross domestic product, grew by 2.4 per cent in the first quarter of this fiscal, compared with three per cent a year earlier.

However, as drought hit half of the country followed by floods in three states, the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council had said the total output of the agriculture and allied sector will decline by two per cent in 2009-10 against a growth of 1.6 per cent in the last fiscal.

"The final change in annual farm output works out to -2 per cent...It is expected that the total food grain production in 2009-10 will drop to 223 million tonnes from 234 million tonnes in 2008-09," the PMEAC had said last month in Economic Outlook for 2009-10.

It had also cautioned that growth of the farm sector may be down further if output during the ongoing rabi season dips from the last year level.