Agricultural growth in the state is set to decline 2.7% for the year 2015-16
The production of cereals is projected to fall 41%, and pulses 11%, as agricultural growth in Maharashtra is set to decline 2.7% for the year 2015-’16, after deficient rainfall in 278 of 355 talukas (sub-units of districts), according to the Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2015-’16.
In 2015, the rainfall in Maharashtra was 60% of normal, and so the state’s farmed area for the winter crop (rabi) declined 16% between October 2015 and March 2016, according to the Survey. This is the second successive year of below-normal rainfall.
The lack of rain has created crises in other states as well: 246 of India’s 688 districts across 10 states – or 35% of India’s area – are now officially drought-hit, according to this answer provided on March 10 to the Lok Sabha.
Maharashtra is India’s second-most important agricultural state (after Uttar Pradesh), with 52.7% (61 million) of its 112 million people dependent on the rural economy. Overall, its gross domestic product is India’s largest at Rs 15.7 lakh crore ($236 billion), of which 10% comes from agriculture.
The only bright spot in the state’s stressed economy is the services sector, employing 44 million people and likely to grow 10.8%, followed by industry at 5.9%, the Survey said.