The growth in agriculture sector declined to 2.9% in the first quarter of the year against 3.7 in the same quarter last year, mainly due to the fall in production of rice and oilseeds. The output of wheat and cotton however, increased in the Rabi season of agriculture year 2011-12. The agricultural sector contributes about 14% to India's GDP, which comprises of agriculture, forestry and fishing.
The sowing in the current season is less by 6% so far, 920.31 lakh hectares as against 979.19 hectares in the last kharif season. The production of oilseeds and rice declined by 12.6% and 16.6%, whereas cotton and sugarcane recorded growth rates of 6.7% and 4.5%, respectively. Cereal output recorded a growth rate of 3.5% during the Rabi season of agriculture year 2011-12 over the production in the last year. The sowing of kharif (summer) crops is still lagging behind target, despite improved rainfall later this month.