Yield of Principal Crops in India: Growth and Trends

Abstract

India, which is one of the largest agricultural-based economies, has made impressive strides on the
agricultural front during the past three decades. However, the yield rates for most of the agricultural
products in India are far below comparable rates in a number of other countries. Present study is an
effort to find the growth and trends of yield of principal crops in India and to generate the short term
forecasts of yields of rice and wheat (principal crops) in India. The analysis shows that there has not been
remarkable growth in the yield per hectare of the principal crops except cotton for the period 2001 -2014.
The forecasts do not give an optimistic picture about growth of the principal crops in the years to come.
An increase in agricultural investments, especially in research and development, is urgently needed to
stimulate growth in yield per hectare.
Keywords: Agricultural yield, Index number, principal crops, Compound Annual Growth Rate,
Forecasts.