Mainstay of livelihood and employment
•72% in 2001 of the country’s population lives in its rural areas.
•Though the share of the agricultural sector in GDP has been declining over time, the proportion of the population dependent upon agriculture and allied activities has been more or less stagnant, or declining at a very slow rate.
•It is estimated that the agricultural sector supports more than half a billion people and provides employment to 52% of India’s total workforce(GoI2008).
•This means that agriculture is the main source of livelihood and employment for about half of India’s population.