Agriculture clocks growth rate of 3.4% in Q1 despite GDP contraction

GVA at current prices at 5.7%, down from 8.6% YoY

Agriculture and allied activities were the sole bright spot amid the dismal GDP performance of other sectors, clocking a growth rate of 3.4 per cent at constant prices in the first quarter of 2020-21.

Farm sector growth in the first quarter of 2019-20 was 3 per cent at constant prices.

However, the growth, driven largely by a bumper rabi harvest and facilitated by relaxation in lockdown, may not have resulted in a big rise in income for a section of farmers. Evidence for this is gross value added (GVA) at current prices for agriculture and allied sectors rising 5.7 per