Employment, Wages and Productivity in Indian Agriculture

Employment in agriculture almost stagnates.In certain sub-sectors of agriculture like livestock, forestry and fishing employment has in fact, declined during the 1990s (1994-00). There are mixed trends from states; push as well as pull factors appear to have been responsible for these trends in agricultural employment. The share of female workers in agriculture has increased at the aggregate level; though there are many states registering a decline in its share. Real wage for agricultural workers increases consistently during the 1990s, though certain indices of agricultural productivity have not in creased significantly during the reference period. Labour productivity in agriculture also increases; its effect on real wage has decreased while that of the labour-land ratio has increased during the reference periods (1983-99). The present study also discusses opportunities for increasing employment in agriculture.