Agriculture

Agriculture & Allied Activities

2. Uttar Pradesh is essentially an agro centric State with a share of Of nearly 26 per cent of agriculture and allied activities as against the national average of under 20 per cent. Meerut, however, is one of the exceptions with the share of agriculture sector being 19 per cent in 2020-21, lower than the average of Uttar Pradesh as also the national average. Notwithstanding a lower share of agriculture, it supports a workforce of 32 per cent of Meerut as cultivators or agricultural labourers. Some broad characteristics of agriculture and land use are as under:

Table 12 : Land use characteristics for Meerut and Uttar Pradesh

[Source: Uttar Pradesh- District Fact Book: India state Publications 2022]

Gross Domestic Product from Agriculture

3. Overall gross value added from agriculture and allied activities in Meerut has declined from 2.8 per cent of Uttar Pradesh in 2017-18 to 2.2 per cent in 2020-21 because of a lower growth. Within agriculture crop segment dominates in Meerut accounting for 61 per cent of total value added. Livestock sector has been another important sector accounting for nearly 30 per cent of total value added (Table 13).

Table 13: Value added from agriculture and allied sectors (Rs crore)

[Source: Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Uttar Pradesh]

Production of Major Crops

4. Within crop sector food crops dominate and 2019-20, area under food crops, including sugarcane accounted for over 85 per cent of the gross sown area. Another 10 per cent of the gross sown area was allocated to fruits and vegetables and rest to the fodder crops as livestock was an important segment. Most of cropped area was irrigated with tube wells accounting for more than 85 per cent of the total irrigated areas. Principal crops grown in Meerut are summarized in Table 14 below.

Table 14: Major Crops grown (Area, production and yield)

[Source: Directorate of Agriculture, Meerut]

Employment & Workforce

5. According to population census of 2011, 32 per cent of the working population of Meerut were either cultivators or agriculture labourers. 87 per cent of these were, however, concentrated in rural areas. However, there have establishments and enterprises other than in the crop segment engaged agriculture and allied sectors, particularly in the livestock segment. Total numbers of such persons in 2013 were reported to be 1.70 lakhs with number of enterprises/establishments being nearing one lakh {Table 15). The numbers in these activities were 6.27 per cent of such persons in Uttar Pradesh. With pandemic getting the agriculture as the fall-back sector and with industry and contact intensive services not being able to offer many jobs, the share of agriculture and allied sector in total employment may still be around 30-35 per cent. While latest data for Meerut are not available, number of persons engaged in agriculture & allied sectors in Uttar Pradesh did show a relative increase during the 2012-2022 decade.

Table 15: Establishments in agriculture & Allied sectors (Numbers)

[Source: Uttar Pradesh- District Fact Book: India state Publications 202]

Sector Specific Initiatives

6. On April 13, 2016, the government set up a committee to prepare a report on doubling income of the farmers by 2022-23. On a pro-rata basis, doubling the income in seven years implicitly assumes a growth of over 10 per cent per annum, nearly twice the historically observed rate of growth in agriculture. Various studies on agriculture sector have identified crop productivity, intertwining livestock with crops, improved resource use efficiency, crop diversification, better prices and shift to non-farm occupations as the instruments for a sustained growth of agriculture.

7. There has been a consensus that agriculture needs a new direction. The traditional approach as in Meerut depending on sugarcane, wheat and rice hardly answer the sustainability issues. The crop production is somewhat ensured because of inherent soil quality, though it is deteriorating and needs additional use of chemicals and remunerative prices are guaranteed as these are exogenously determined. It has also to be realised that crop diversification is another significant instrument to sustain the agricultural growth. As the second-generation agriculture reforms, farmers need to be motivated to undertake crop diversification towards newer varieties of high-value crops, orchards, fruits, pulses, vegetables and flowers. There are studies to show that these newer varieties could fetch three times more revenue compared to traditional staple crops.All these are doable and actionable. The Department may need to enable farmers with quality inputs, technical guidance, market information, and capital for on-farm investments. This will also address issues of small holdings. Technology, diversification and transfer of labour from agriculture to non-agriculture is critical. Sustained labour force in agriculture in Meerut is roughly of the size as its share in GDP.