Agricultural Resources Information System (AgRIS): An e ...

1.12 During the reform decade (1990-91 to 2000-01) in India,
agricultural growth was at a mere 1.71 %, and below the annual
population growth of 1.87 % per annum, signaling the advent of
the “Malthusian” phenomenon of population growth outstripping
food production. 1996-97 appears to be a turning point, with
stagnation even of per capita agricultural GDP. During 1990s,
National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) data suggest that
poverty rates have remained static, but National Council for
Applied Economic Research (NCAER) data show that poverty
rates have fallen (Subramanian Swamy, 2001). The World Bank
(2002) 19 Report lauds that the countries that grew rapidly in the
1990s, such as China, India, Vietnam, and Uganda, managed to
reduce the share of their “people-in-absolute-poverty” by 5 to
8 % per Year.
1.13 According to the white paper on "Eliminating World
Poverty: Making Globalization Work for the Poor" of the
British Government, “there are substantial inequities in the
existing international trading system". Most farmers in
countries like India are subsistence farmers, with marginal
19 World Bank (2002) : “World Bank lauds India for Poverty Reduction” published in Times of India, March 14,
2002 and also see http://www.worldbank.org & NCEAR - National Council of Applied Economic Research, Delhi
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