Analysis of Foodgrains Production Trends in Five Year Plans

Planning is the key to development for a developing country. For a mixed economy like India where both public sector and private sector exist alongside in the nation building process, the aim of the planning process is to offer quality of life to its citizens. In a welfare state equal opportunity in terms of education and employment, equitable distribution of wealth, health and social security are crucial. For that purpose, Planning Commission of India was established in India on March, 1950. Agriculture plays the most important role in Indian economy. The annual agricultural production decides the GDP of the country, directly as well as indirectly. Presently, the share of agriculture in GDP is 23 per cent, industries 27 per cent and service sector 50 per cent. However, industries and service sectors are influenced by agriculture sector. Since agriculture sector creates purchasing power amongst farmers, which fuels growth in industries and services. Therefore, unless agricultural production increases national GDP can not increase in spite of advancement in industrial and software technology which is the backbone of service sector. In the new millennium, the challenges in the agricultural sector are quite different from those met in the previous decades. The enormous pressure of produce more food from less land with shrinking natural resources is a tough task for the farmers. While agriculture held an important place in the national economy, its’ efficiency remained at low level. No doubt, agriculture is the basis of Indian Planning. Therefore, here the trend of foodgrains production in different plans is discussed and analyzed chronologically.