Agriculture in Himachal Pradesh

Agriculture contributes over 45% to the net state domestic product. It is the main source of income and employment in Himachal. Over 93% of the population in Himachal depend directly upon agriculture which provides direct employment to 71% of its people.

However agriculture in the state suffers from certain limitations, specially in the production of food grains. One of the reason is that the area under cultivation cannot be extended to any appreciable extent. Reclamation of land on slopes of hills for cultivation of food grains is neither economical nor beneficial. The farmers can profit more by raising cash crops suited to the agro-climatic conditions. Another reason is that reclamation of land from the hills increases the menace of soil erosion.

The main cereals grown are wheat, maize, rice and barley. Kangra, Mandi district and to some extent Paonta valley of Sirmur district are the major producers of the 1st three cereals, while barley is mostly grown in Shimla district.

Although the state is deficit in food grains, it has gained tremendously in other spheres of agricultural production such as seed-potato, ginger, vegetables, vegetable seeds, mushrooms, chicory seeds, hops, olives and fig especially vegetables and seed potato which is disease free and good quality are providing a good source of income to the farmers. Seed-potato is mostly grown in Shimla, Kulu and Lahaul areas.

Fruit cultivation is another field which has proved to be an economic boon to the farmers. There are vast tracts of land in Himachal suitable only for growing fruits. Fruit cultivation does not add to the problem of soil erosion and its employment potential is much more than that of conventional farming. The yield pre acre in terms of money is also much higher.