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Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister P K Mishra has said that India's agriculture sector is poised for stronger growth in the 2024-25 fiscal year, driven by favourable monsoon conditions. He said the agriculture and allied sector had seen a reduction in growth rate to 1.4 per cent in FY24. However, he said agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had recently indicated that the sector could see 3.5-4 per cent growth this fiscal year, riding on good monsoon.

Mishra said between 2016-17 and 2022-23, agriculture and allied sectors saw an average annual growth rate of 5 per cent, supported by strong performance in livestock and fisheries. The sector also proved resilient during the Covid-19 pandemic, contributing significantly to overall economic growth. However, challenges remain in pulses and oilseeds production. While pulses output has increased to 24-25 million tonnes from 14 million tonnes a decade ago, India is not yet self-sufficient.

He said ‘a lot of research is going on and we should be making significant progress.’ Talking about high taxes on farm inputs and equipment, he said agricultural issues cannot be viewed in isolation from broader tax policy considerations. There are many tax issues and that need to be looked at more holistically.