Sustainable Agricultural Development

The present book evaluates temporal and spatial variations in the growth rates in response to area, production and productivity and to measure the magnitude of variability and association between growth and instability in nine major crops and also to assess the sustainability of agricultural production during the period of twenty six years from 1980-81 to 2005-06 in Himachal Pradesh. The performance of agriculture sector revealed that it was downward movement in the growth rate in area, production, and yield in the majority of the crops, which was instrument in inducing the transition toward unsustainable growth path. The main factor that led to the process of unsustainable agriculture was decreasing growth of area, production and, instability, inefficiency and equity level in agricultural sector. Unlike other studies, an integrated quantitative approach has been developed here for rigorous statistical examination of the agricultural performance. Most of the findings of this study are not only significant but also different from the findings of the earlier studies. It is expected that the findings of the study would be of great help in framing policy perspective for rejuvenating, strengthening and extending sustainable agriculture. It is hoped that this book will be of direct interest and use of academics, development planning and policy makers.