Is Rapid Urbanisation Impeding Growth of the Indian Agriculture Sector?
India, together with China and Japan is experiencing an economic boom at a phenomenal rate. India reported 8.7% growth in gross domestic product (GDP) for the fiscal year 2007/08 and although the projected growth between 2008/09 is projected to suffer a slight decline, Information Technology (IT) and IT-enabled services (ITES) output are expected to continue growing, a tribute to India’s large population of low cost skilled workers. As India is hurtling towards industrialisation, many wonder if its rampant pursuit to be recognised as a developed nation is coming at the expense of lowered agricultural investment. A 2006 report published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimated 12% of the world’s 6.6 billion people are living in hunger and of that, 26% or 212 million of them live in India. To put this into context, 1 in 6 people in India are living in hunger every day. It is estimated that 25% of India’s population live below the poverty line. This is irrefutable evidence
