Total Factor Productivity Growth in Indian Agriculture

Abstract

n this study, time series data has been related to broad agricultural outputs which included farming, livestock, forestry, and fisheries and 3 conventional inputs: labour, land, and capital, to construct an index of total factor productivity (TFP) between 1969-70 to 2005-06. A TFP index is simply the ratio of an output index to an input index. Therefore, growth in TFP is the residual share of output growth after accounting for changes in land, labor, and other conventional agricultural inputs. Changes in TFP can be interpreted as a measure of the collective contribution of non-conventional inputs in agriculture, such as improvements in input quality, market access, economies of scale, and technology. What emerges from this exercise is a picture that raises concern about future growth in Indian agriculture, and the welfare of the people who depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Agricultural productivity in India appeared to stagnate in the late 1990s after enjoying two decades of rapid growth.