The country has, over the last decade, achieved significant growth in agriculture productivity, but the growth has been driven by non-crop sectors such as aquaculture, said Suresh Pal, eminent agriculture economist and Director of ICAR-National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NIAP).

He was addressing the BusinessLine Agri Summit on farm productivity here on Friday.

He said growth in agriculture productivity has been 3 per cent in the last two years and 5 per cent before that. And this growth has come from States which were traditionally weak in agriculture.

In Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh, the growth in crop, livestock and fisheries has been 6 per cent, far above the national growth, and not seen in the Green Revolution-backed States such as Punjab and Haryana.

However, Pal also expressed concern over the slow growth in agriculture productivity in Uttar Pradesh, which has good irrigation facilities and fertile land.

Studies have shown there has been a convergence of economic growth and agricultural productivity.

The seed usage has also seen a significant hike, supported by hybrid seed technology. Labour productivity riding on better technology has also contributed to the growth numbers, he added.

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