According to one of his ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants India to have a China-like dominance inmanufacturing. China’s success in manufacturing holds several lessons for India but China’s performance in agriculture is no less remarkable. Over the past few decades, rapid agricultural growth has allowed the Chinese growth engine to pick up pace without stoking inflation.

Unlike the advanced economies of Western Europe and North America, farm growth in China has been driven by small landowners rather than by industrial farming. As per National Sample Survey Organization data, the average size of operational holdings in India fell to 1.2 hectares in 2010-11 from 2.3 hectares in 1970-71. China’s average holdings are even smaller. According to the 2000 World Census of Agriculture, the average size of Chinese holdings was 0.6 hectares. Thus, farming in both countries is dominated by small farmers............Read more

Source web page: live mint