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Indian Economic Policy

Notes Actual outlay on the agricultural sector ranged between 18 and 24 per cent of the total Plan outlay
(except during the first Plan, it was as high as 31 percent). During Eleventh Plan it has declined to
only 18.5 percent.
We shall describe the progress made by India in the field of agriculture under the first nine plans. In
the next section, we shall take up the progress of agriculture under the Tenth Plan separately.
Agricultural Progress under the Five Year Plans

First three Plans (1951-61)
The First Five Plan (1951-56) aimed at solving the food crisis India was facing at that time and also
ease the critical agricultural raw material situation, particularly the acute shortage of raw cotton and
raw jute. Accordingly, the First Plan gave the highest priority to agriculture, specially food production,
by allottin 31 per cent of the total Plan outlay on agriculture.
The production target in foodgrains during the First Plan was exceeded—for instance, as against the
target of about 62 million tonnes, actual production of foodgrains came to nearly 67 million tonnes
(Table 5). However, the targets fixed for sugarcane, cotton and jute were not achieved.
The Planning Commission wanted the Second Plan to lay the foundations of industrialisation. Out of
total outlay of ` 4,600 crores during the Second Plan, a sum of ` 950 crores or about 20 per cent was
spent on agriculture. Despite the percentage reduction in Plan outlay on agriculture, the progress on
the agricultural front was significant. For example foodgrain production recorded nearly 80 million
tonnes in 1960-61, as against the target of 81 million tonnes. Likewise, the production of oilseeds,
sugarcane and cotton was much more in 1960-61 than in 1955-56. There was, however, a shortfall in
the production of all groups of commodities, as against the target fixed, except in the case of sugarcane
in which there was remarkable progress.
Experience in the Second Plan had showed clearly that the rate of growth in agricultural production
was a major limiting factor in the progress of the Indian economy.
As the Government felt that the success of the agricultural sector was an essential condition for the
success of the entire Plan, the Third Plan fixed ambitious targets of production for all agricultural
crops.
Table 5 : Achievements in the Agricultural Sector in the Various Plans
Foodgrains Oilseeds Sugarcane Cotton Jute

Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual
First Plan 62 67 5.5 5.6 63 60 4.2 4.0 5.4 4.2
Second Plan 81 80 7.6 6.5 78 104 6.5 5.4 6.5 4.0
Third Plan 100 72 9.8 6.4 100 127 7.0 4.6 6.2 4.5
Fourth Plan 129 104 10.5 8.7 150 140 8.0 5.8 7.4 6.2
Fifth Plan 125 132 12.0 8.9 165 165 8.0 7.1 7.7 7.1
Sixth Plan 154 146 11.1 13.0 215 170 9.2 8.5 9.1 7.8
Seventh Plan 180 171 18.0 17.0 217 210 9.5 10.5 9.5 7.9
Eighth Plan 210 199 23.0 25.0 275 277 14.0 14.3 9.5 11.0
Ninth Plan 234 211 30.0 20.7 336 300 15.7 10.1 — 11.6
Tenth Plan 234 216 30.0 24.0 336 345 16.0 23.0 — 11.0

Note : 1. Production of foodgrains, oilseeds and sugarcane in million tonnes.
2. Production of cotton in millions of bales of 180 Kgs each.
3. Production of jute in millions of bales of 170 kgs each.
Source : Plan documents and Economic Surveys.

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