Lockdown: Agri sector running smoothly, to be less impacted unlike other segments, says govt

The government has pinned its hope on the farm sector to keep the economy running amid the COVID-19 stress, saying the agrarian industry is functioning "smoothly" and would be less impacted unlike manufacturing and services.

Lauding farm workers working tirelessly for ensuring the country's food security even during the current crisis, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said many of the rabi (winter-sown) crops have been harvested taking safety precautions, and procurement of some crops such as wheat, rice, pulses and oilseeds at minimum support price (MSP) is underway.

Farmers have started sowing rain-dependent kharif (summer) crops like rice, and the acreage has gone up to 57.07 lakh hectares so far this year from 41.31 lakh hectares a year ago, he said adding that there has been no shortage of foodgrains, vegetables and dairy products in the country.

Farmers are getting better rates in mandis, Tomar claimed.

Stating that many other sectors are hit due to the lockdown, the minister said, however, "the agriculture sector will not be impacted much".

The government has taken several measures to ensure smooth operations of the agriculture sector and exempted farm activities from the lockdown rules, he added.

Government think-tank Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand asserted that at a time when 60 per cent of the Indian economy is closed and not working due to the lockdown, the agri sector alone will play a key role in giving normal growth to the Indian economy.

"Our estimates are that agriculture this year will have at least 3 per cent growth rate, which is a long-term growth rate of Indian agriculture despite prevailing adverse circumstances," he said.

The farm sector growth stood at 3.7 per cent during the 2019-20 fiscal, he said and pointed, "If you look at the growth rate in current prices, then that growth rate comes to be 11.3 per cent, which is 60 per cent more than the growth of the non-agricultural sector."