Note ban to lower growth in 2016-17: Assocham
Banning of high value notes would lower growth rate due to economic slowdown in the third and fourth quarters of…
Uttarakhand needs to promote a separate hill farming policy as the hill state has a mere 14 per cent net sown area. Besides this, only three-fifth of the state’s total working population is engaged in agriculture.
The facts were highlighted in a recent ASSOCHAM-RNCOS joint study.
“The performance of Uttarakhand in agriculture and allied activities has not been up to the mark as its share in the gross state domestic product (GSDP) had declined sharply from over 22 per cent in 2004-05 to just over nine per cent in 2014-15,” states the study titled Agri business outlook in Uttarakhand.
The study was released by ASSOCHAM’s Secretary General DS Rawat, at a press conference held in Dehradun on Thursday.
In terms of issues being faced by farm sector in the state, the study highlighted that low level of land holdings is a key challenge as over 70 per cent of state’s farmers hold less than one hectare of land.
“Priority must be given to further developing irrigation infrastructure in Uttarakhand including the canal network and also lift canals, tube-well, pump sets and others,” Rawat said.
“Together with promotion of local and traditional hill crops, farmers must also be given adequate cover in terms of welfare schemes, besides adequate technical and financial support for water conservation should also be extended by the state administration,” he added.
The study suggests the state government to focus on strengthening rural economy by focusing more on dairy sector by imparting technical assistance for dairy development in Uttarakhand, more so as milk production in the state grew by just about one per cent between 2013-14 and 2014-15.
Advertisement
