Agri growth target retained at 4% in 12th Plan

Government has retained the growth target of 4 per cent for agriculture and allied sector in the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), Parliament was informed today.
"The target of 4 per cent growth in GDP of agriculture and allied sector had been retained in 12th Plan, as in the 11th Plan," Minister of State for Planning Rao Inderjit Singh said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
"This target was surpassed during the 11th Plan with average annual growth rate of 4.1 per cent for the Plan period, which was also the highest ever achieved in any Plan period," he said.

In 2012-13, the growth in agriculture and allied sector stood at 1.2 per cent on account of severe drought but improved significantly to 3.7 per cent during 2013-14 due to favourable monsoon leading to upbeat performance in foodgrains, oilseeds, fruits & vegetables, livestock and fisheries, he said.
However, during 2014-15, due to drought in some parts of the country and freak weather during the rabi season, the crop output declined sharply, thereby causing agricultural growth rate to decline to 0.2 per cent, he added.