(Photo Courtesy – Livemint.com)

Agriculture is the mainstay of the Indian economy, with 54.6 percent of the population engaged in agriculture or allied activities. According to Census 2011, agriculture along with fisheries and forestry account for 17 percent of the country’s GDP.

Located in the Hindi heartland, Chhattisgarh, known as the ‘rice-bowl’ of India, offers no different story. Nearly 17 percent of the state’s GDP comes from agriculture, and, according to Census 2011, nearly 77 percent of the state is rural. Yet, agriculture has been the slowest growing sector for at least the last five years here.  

The agricultural sector in Chhattisgarh is mired in distress. And this distress is multi-faceted, adversely affecting its farmers and labourers.

Click on to read the article here.