Title: Indian agriculture sector: impacts from COVID-19

Authors: Arti Yadav; Irfan Ahmad

Addresses: Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Department of Commerce, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India ' Department of Commerce, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India

Abstract: The livelihood of around 70% of the Indian rural population depends on the agriculture sector. In India, even the earnings of the non-agriculture sectors in terms of backward and forward linkage for agro-based businesses also get impacted by the production of agricultural products. However, issues like cereal-centric, regionally-biased, and resource-intensive production are still about the agriculture sector of India. The present study attempts to provide an insight into the present scenario of the Indian agriculture sector after providing a brief review of the agricultural literature. Through empirical analysis using multiple regression technique, it tries to find out the factors responsible for the growth of the Indian agriculture sector. The study also explores the potential impact of COVID-19 on the agriculture sector of India based on various secondary sources. The result shows that agriculture trade, level of rainfall, and infrastructure development is significantly and positively, while life expectancy and employment in agriculture are significantly and negatively impacting the agricultural contribution to the GDP of India.

Keywords: agriculture sector; economic growth; COVID-19; India.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGENVI.2022.122933

International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, 2022 Vol.21 No.1, pp.4 - 22

Received: 12 Jan 2021
Accepted: 04 Aug 2021
Published online: 17 May 2022 *