Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2022

Citing data for 2011 from the office of the Registrar General of India, the report states that 69 per cent of people in India live in rural areas of the country. Agriculture workers – including cultivators and labourers – form 55 per cent (or 263 million) of the total workers in India.

The report notes that among the total agricultural workers of India, 55 per cent (or 144 million) are main and marginal agricultural labourers and the rest 45 per cent (or 118 million) are main and marginal agricultural cultivators.

In 2011, the share of female agricultural cultivators is 36 million or 30 per cent of the total cultivators and the share of female agricultural labourers is 43 per cent of the total labourers or 61 million. Rajasthan has the highest number of female agricultural cultivators with six million cultivators and Andhra has the highest number of female labourers with eight million labourers.

Citing data from National Statistical Office (NSO) for the year 2022-23, the Gross Value Added (GVA) by Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing was an estimated Rs. 2,221,092 at constant basic prices (2011-12). It ranked fourth after financial, real estate & professional; trade, repair, hotels and restaurants; and manufacturing sectors.

As per 2021-22 estimates from the National Statistical Office (NSO), Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest gross state value added (at constant prices) in the agriculture and allied sectors – Rs. 23,188,931. On the other hand, Puducherry with Rs. 93,167 recorded the lowest estimated gross state value added in the sector.

According to the normal estimates (or average values for the period of 2016-17 to 2020-21), the total area under foodgrain cultivation in India measured 127.13 million hectares. The total production of foodgrains was an estimated 286 million tonnes with a yield of 2,247 kilograms per hectare.

Citing data for the year 2019-20, around 57 per cent of the area in India is under irrigation. Punjab ranks highest with 99 per cent of its area under irrigation and Jharkhand the least with 10 per cent of its area under irrigation.

For 2021-22, the area under sugarcane cultivation was estimated about 5.15 million hectares with an estimated production of 432 million tonnes. During this period, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra are the highest sugarcane producing states with 177 million tonnes and 111 million tonnes of production respectively.

For 2021-22, the area under cotton cultivation was about 12 million hectares with an estimated production of 31 million bales (170 kg. of each). During this period, Gujarat and Maharashtra were the highest cotton producing states with 7.48 million bales and 7.12 million bales of production respectively.

In the year 2021-22, India’s annual agricultural imports were around Rs. 231,850 crores. Of the total national imports, agricultural imports made up 5.07 per cent, while agricultural exports were 12 per cent of the overall national exports.

The minimum support price (MSP) for paddy (common grade ‘A’ variety) in 2022-23 was Rs. 2,040 per quintal. For a quintal of wheat, the MSP was Rs. 2,125. As per the report, the MSP for ragi and moong in 2022-23 was Rs. 3,578 and Rs. 7,775 per quintal, respectively.

Data from the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices shows that the Projected Cost of Production for paddy in 2022-23 stood at Rs. 1,360 per quintal. During the same period, the average cost of production for wheat was Rs. 1,065, Rs. 2,385 for ragi and Rs. 5,167 for moong. The cost of production here includes expenses in cash and kind, rent paid on leased land as well as the 'family labour' calculated according to statutory or actual market wage rate, whichever is higher.

The report states that the cold storage capacity across states as on November 30, 2022 was 38,224,006 metric tonnes through 8,398 projects across India.

According to data from the Central Electricity Authority, the total consumption of electricity for agricultural purposes measured 228,451 gigawatt hours in 2021-22. This amounted to 20.11 per cent of the total consumption of electricity in India that year.

Citing NSO data, the report states that during the period of July 2018 to June 2019, the average monthly income per agricultural household is Rs. 10,218 and that 50 per cent of the agricultural households are in debt.