The growth rate of Agriculture Sector in Haryana’s GDP grew after independence as the Government placed special emphasis on this sector in its five year plans. Further, the green revolution took place in the Haryana giving a major boost to the growth of agriculture sector. As a consequence of rapid structural transition of the Haryana’s economy over the years, the contribution of the Agriculture and Allied Sector at constant (2004-05) prices went down to only 16.7% in the state GDP during 2011-12. The economic growth of the State has become more sensitive to the growth rates in Industry and Services Sectors during the past few years but the recent experience suggests that high GDP growth without consistent and rapid agricultural growth is likely to accelerate inflation in the state, which would jeopardize the larger growth process. Therefore, the growth of the agriculture and allied sector continued to be a critical factor in the overall performance of the state economy.

Contribution of agriculture and allied Sector :

• Agriculture and allied sector is composed of agriculture, forestry and logging and fishing sub sectors. Agriculture including crop husbandry and dairy farming is the main component contributing about 95% in the GDP of the agriculture and allied sector.
• The contribution of forestry and fishing sub-sectors in GDP of agriculture and allied activities is around 4% and 1%, respectively. The impact of forestry and fishing sub-sectors is, therefore, very low on the overall growth of agriculture and allied sectors.

Growth of Agriculture and Allied Sector :

Agricultural Production Indices of Foodgrains & Non-foodgrains :

• In Haryana, about 71.72% of the cropped area is under foodgrains and the remaining 28.28% area is under non-foodgrains. Foodgrains consist mainly of cereals and pulses with weights of 61.35% and 10.37%, respectively. Non-foodgrains consist of oilseeds, fibre and miscellaneous crops with weights 4.87%, 11.63% and 11.78%, respectively.
• In Haryana, the index of agricultural production of all crops moved moderately from 243.01 in 2004-05 to 256.53 in 2007-08. It moved to 271.76 in 2008-09 and attained the level of 278.87 in 2016-17. In 2017-18, it stands at 293.69.
• Haryana has become a leading producer of white button mushroom and ranks first in India as far as seasonal cultivation of mushroom is concerned. The production of mushroom is increased because of the abundant availability of wheat and paddy straw, easy availability of quality spawn and comprehensive training programmes provided by Universities and Government of Haryana. Also the success of mushroom production is because of the availability of nearness of the market, e.g., of Delhi market.

Animal Husbandry :

• Haryana has a prominent place in the livestock map of the country in spite of being one of the smallest (1.3 % of total geographical area) States of India.
• The animal husbandry activities in the State play a pivotal role in the rural economy through a variety of contributions in the form of income generation, draft power, socio-economic upliftment, employment avenues and better nutrition to human population through livestock products like milk, eggs & meat etc.
• Haryana possesses 2.5% of the bovine population of the country but contributes 83.81 Lakh tonnes milk per year which is more than 5.4% of the nation’s total milk production.
• Similarly, per capita per day milk availability of the State is quite high @ 835 gms against the national average of 309 gms next only to Punjab where per capita per day milk availability is 1063 gm.
• Haryana is the home tract of world famous ‘Murrah’ buffaloes popularly known as ‘black gold’ and the dual purpose ‘Hariana’ cow.
  Certainly, the State is proud of its position, achievements, livestock wealth and the significant contributions of this sector to the State economy which is 5.5% of GSDP.
• It is also a major source of employment throughout the year and livelihood to small farmers, including women. The importance of this sector is ever increasing with the production saturation in crop husbandry and the shrinking of availability of cultivable land.
   

Fisheries Sector :

• Haryana government is providing the technical and financial assistance through Fish Farmers Development Agencies to the fish farmers, which have been set up in many of the districts of the state.
• With an average fish production of 5,600 kg per hectare per year, Haryana ranks second after Punjab in fish production in the country.
• During the 11th Five Year Plan, the state government has approved various schemes of fisheries department involving an investment of Rs 89.73 crore.
• In order to meet the growing demand for ornamental fish, a hatchery has been set up at government Fish Seed Farm, Saidhpura in district Karnal.
• The same has been strengthened under the National Agriculture Development Scheme at a cost of Rs 25 lakh.
• For testing water and soil, the state government has strengthened 32 diagnostic laboratories in the state during last seven and a half years.
   

Average Yield of major Commodities :

Pesticides and Fertilizer Consumption :

• The broad based adoption of high yielding varieties, extensive use of fertilizers, improved access to water through public and private investments in irrigation and power, and improved access to markets through public investments in rural infrastructure have been important in sustaining agricultural growth in Haryana.
• In particular, fertilizer consumption as well as access to irrigation and wholesale markets are among the highest in the country. The consumption of fertilizers has increased in Haryana but there are inter district variations are present as the CSS value shows that the maximum fertilizer consumption was in Sirsa and the minimum was in Panchkula.
• The consumption of fertilizers (NPK) ranges between -4.320 to +6.041 as shown by CSS values for the year 2017-18.
• These have helped maintain food grain output growth in Haryana at 3% per year in the 1990s, compared the All-India declining average annual growth rate of 1.7%.

Factors and Growth of Agriculture and Allied Sector :

• The average yield of major commodities. The table shows the broad based adoption of high yielding varieties, extensive use of fertilizers and improved status of agriculture and its performance is based on : Fertilizing land, Water Resources, Status of farmer, Techniques, Efficient man power amd Grants and funds.
• The average annual growth of Agriculture and Allied Sector of Haryana was recorded as 3.9% during the 11th Five Year Plan, which was slightly higher than that achieved at All India level (3.7%).
• The growth rates have been improved during 2017-18.The encouraging growth of 8.6% in the Agriculture and Allied Sector is mainly due to the sharp rise in the production of wheat(12.9%), paddy(8.5%), cotton (50%), sugarcane (15.2%), maize (26.3%), barley (17.7%) and fruits (32.5%) during the year.
• The success of farming system rests with the proper combination of various enterprises and utilization of products and/or by-products of one enterprise for other allied enterprises.
  Agriculture development includes not only crops but also Status Development of labour, Status of Techniques and Increased percentage of National Income.

Growth in GDP of Agriculture and Allied sectors in Haryana and All Indian during 11th Five Year Plan :

Conclusion :

• Agriculture has played vital role in development of Haryana. Science and technology has helped the state to touch the new heights. After the green revolution, Haryana has risen as the strong pillar of Agricultural Development. Agricultural Development has a lot of relevance in modern economics. Wheat, seed and crop diversification helped the agriculture sector.
• The development of agriculture provides necessary capital for the development of other sectors like industry, transport and foreign trade. In fact, a balanced development of agriculture and industry is the need of the day.
• Three main factors that contribute to agricultural growth are increased use of agricultural inputs, technological change and technical efficiency. The structure of the Agricultural and Rural economy is changing. The rapid rate of growth in agriculture sector gives progressive outlook and further motivation for development.
• As a result, it helps to create proper atmosphere for general economic development of the economy. Thus, economic development depends on the rate at which agriculture grows. This growth will motivate to do potential research and draw policies for the development of Haryana.