“Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2010”  is compiled by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation. It provides a wide range of data on outlays, expenditure and capital formation, crop production and productivity across States, markets and prices, terms of trade, price support and procurement, domestic and international trade, credit, insurance etc.,

Timely availability of reliable information on agricultural output and other related aspects is of great significance for planning and policy making particularly, in the management of concerns in areas such as food security, price stability, international trade etc. The information is extremely useful in identifying problem areas and the nature of required intervention in terms of spatial, temporal and qualitative inferences. The handbook presents a comprehensive picture of the progress made by the agriculture sector at the All India level as well as across the States. 

The yield estimates of major crops were obtained through analysis of Crop Cutting Experiments (CCE) conducted under scientifically designed General Crop Estimation Surveys (GCES). On the whole it deals with estimates of area, production and yield in respect of principal crops of foodgrains, oilseeds, sugarcane, fibers and important commercial and horticulture crops.

It contains a cross section and time series on a wide range of economic indicators, particularly in the agricultural sector. The data on horticulture provided by the National Horticulture Mission has also been provided. A list of studies conducted by various Agro-Economic Research Centers during the last five years has been included as a new chapter in this handbook.

The agricultural statistics 2010 indicates these broad trends -

• The percentage share of GDP of agriculture, forestry and fishery together (at 2004-05 prices) for the year 2010 was 14.6 per cent.
• The percentage growth of GDP of agriculture, forestry and fishery together (at 2004-05 prices) for the year 2010 was 0.2 per cent.
• The percentage share of GDP of agriculture, forestry and fishery together (at constant 1999-2000 prices) in 2010 was highest for Uttar Pradesh followed by Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
• The sectoral growth rates and ICOR under different agriculture and allied sectors of the economy was 3.97 per cent and 1.99 respectively for the tenth plan period.
• The per capita net availability of foodgrains was 444 gm/day in India for 2009-2010.
• The All India average yield for total foodgrains is 1798 kg/ha for the year 2009-2010 whereas the state-wise average yields indicate that Punjab (4148 kg/ha)and Haryana (3383 kg/ha) continue to have significantly higher yields than the national average.
• The trends in the compound growth rates of area, production and yield of principal crops during 2000-2010 (Base:T.E.1981-82=100) as per cent per annum is -
  • The growth rate in area was negative for rice, jowar, bajra, ragi, small millets, barley, coarse cereals, groundnut, other pulses, jute and mesta. While rice production had been on the rise during 2006-07 to 2008-2009 it showed a decline during 2009-2010.
  • The growth rate in production was negative for jowar, ragi, small millets, other pulses and mesta.
  • The growth rate in yield was positive for all crops except potato.

The publication is of utility to economists, policy makers, researchers, agricultural scientists, students and the public at large. It can be viewed electronically at the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation’s website here