Sources of Crop Output Growth in Bihar: Implications for Policy Interventions

Bihar has a geographical area of 9.4 million hectares and fertile agricultural land spread across the Indo-Gangetic plains. The net cultivated area in the state accounted for about 57 per cent of the total reported geographical area during 2012-14. Over 70 per cent of rural workers depend on agriculture for livelihood. Despite its importance for the economic growth of the state, the agricultural sector had for long remained neglected, needing a big policy push for unleashing its growth potential. In order to address this shortcoming, the Government of Bihar launched agriculture roadmaps with specific targets for output, distribution of inputs, and service delivery, to be achieved within a specified time frame. In this context, this policy brief has been prepared for assessing whether input intensification or technological change is driving growth in crop output.