2 months ago
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India’s farm sector Gross Value Added (GVA) is likely to see little or no growth in the second half of 2023-24, with the full year-clocking about 1% growth, rating firm ICRA said on Thursday, citing the weak kharif crop estimates, mixed trends in rabi sowing and concerns regarding crop yields.
The mild growth in the agriculture, forestry and fishing GVA this fiscal, compared with FY23’s 4% uptick, would weigh on rural demand in the near term, ICRA economists reckoned, adding that if the coming monsoon was normal, sectoral GVA growth may recover to 3.4% in 2024-25.
While cumulative rabi sowing had improved after a sombre start, the growth was only 0.03%, over last year and this was driven by a handful of States, like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Haryana, while most States clocked a decline. “Higher sowing for crops like coarse cereals, oilseeds and wheat as on February 2, was counterbalanced by the fall in the area sown for pulses and rice,” the rating agency noted.
