Indian Gold Book:Indian Gold Book - Gold Bars Worldwide

AGRICULTURE
As the agricultural sector is so important to the Indian economy, this section includes information
relevant to gold demand and the marketing of gold.
The rural population of 742 million accounts for 71% of India’s population.
There are about 107 million farms. Most are small. 78% are 2 hectares or less.
Food grains (mainly rice and wheat) account for about 44% of the value of major agricultural crop output, fruit and
vegetables for about 23%.
Agricultural GDP per rural capita is generally higher in the south.
Only 38% of agricultural land is irrigated. All States rely on the monsoon.
FARMS
The average size of the 107 million farms is 1.6 hectares.
63 million farms (59%) are less than 1 hectare. 1.7 million (1.6%) are 10 hectares or more.
In the 1991 Census, 60% of the agricultural population were described as cultivators, 40% as agricultural labourers. The
Ministry of Agriculture observes that many family members categorised as cultivators on small farms would also work as
agricultural labourers on larger farms. It estimates that around 60% of agricultural workers in total are agricultural
labourers.
Daily wages for agricultural labourers in different States range from around Rs 50 (US$ 1.00) to Rs 200 (US$ 4.00).
MAJOR CROPS
94% of the 154 million hectares under major crop cultivation are used to produce 3 crop categories: food
grains (80%), oilseeds (11%) and sugarcane (3%).
Food grains
Includes rice, wheat and pulses. 43% is produced by Uttar Pradesh (22%) and Punjab (12%) in the north, and Madhya
Pradesh (10%) in the west.
Oilseeds
Includes soyabean, mustard and groundnuts. 57% is produced by Madhya Pradesh (27%) and Maharashtra (13%) in the
west, and Rajasthan (17%) in the north.
Sugarcane
69% is produced by Uttar Pradesh (39%) in the north, Maharashtra (18%) in the west, and Karnataka (12%) in the south.
The important food grains of rice and wheat are harvested at different times.
Rice
Accounts for 43% of food grains. Typically, 86% is harvested in the Kharif (October/November) period. 14% in the Rabi
(March/April) period.
68% of rice is produced by 6 States: West Bengal (16%) and Bihar (9%) in the east, Uttar Pradesh (10%) and Punjab
(14%) in the north, Andhra Pradesh (12%) and Tamil Nadu (8%) in the south.
Wheat
Accounts for 35% of food grains. The crop is harvested in the Rabi (March/April) period.
79% of wheat is produced by 4 States. Uttar Pradesh (34%), Punjab (21%) and Haryana (13%) in the north and Madhya
Pradesh (11%) in the west.
44
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE INDIAN GOLD MARKET