The contribution of the Agriculture sector has increased to 20.2 % to the gross value added (GVA) of the country’s Economy, revealed the recently released provisional estimate of Annual National Income.

The data of the National Statistical Office (NSO) further revealed that the percentage of usually working persons engaged in the Agriculture Sector is 45.6 %, which means out of every hundred persons in India 45 are engaged directly or indirectly in the Agriculture Sector.

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The data was released in the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by the NSO, said a senior officer of the Agriculture Ministry.

He further said that the share of the Agriculture and Allied sector to total Gross Value added (GVA) to the economy is 20.2 % during the year 2020-21 at the current price.

The Ministry further said that there are more than 9.75 crore women working in the agriculture sector. “As per the latest Census conducted by the Registrar General of India the total number of women farmers as cultivators is 3.60 crore and agricultural labour is 6.15 crore in the country”.

With an objective to help farmers in the agriculture sector, the Ministry has launched ‘Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship Development’ under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY-RAFTAAR). The idea behind the scheme was to promote innovation and agri-entrepreneurship by providing financial support and nurturing the incubation ecosystem.

This Ministry has appointed five Knowledge Partners (KPs) as Centres of Excellence and twenty-four RKVY-RAFTAAR Agribusiness Incubators (R-ABIs) from across the country for the implementation of this programme.

So far, 173 women startups and entrepreneurs have been supported under the programme. Besides 50 more Agri-Business  Incubation Centers (ABICs) have been established and are operational in the ICAR network to help potential women startups.