AGRICULTURAL GROWTH ANALYSIS – A STUDY OF MAHARASHTRA STATE

Abstract

The present paper attempts to analyze agricultural growth of principle crops in Maharashtra state of India during the pre- and post-reform period up to 2009-10. The agricultural performance was evaluated on the basis of estimates of compound annual growth rates and coefficients of variation of area, production and yields per hectare of principal crops in Maharashtra state. The study found that total foodgrains production which decelerated during the early post-reform period over pre-reform period, picked up during later post-reform period. The output instability in total foodgrains remained low during all the periods under study. The output growth rate of wheat maize and sugarcane crops has accelerated during the post-reform periods mainly due to area expansion. In pulses arhar and gram improved output growth performance during post-reform periods. But the coarse cereals like bajra, small millets and ragi have registered dismal output performance during the post-reform periods due to loss of area.