Passage

One of the dismal realities of the agricultural sector in independent India has been that it never experienced a high-growth phase, unlike the non-agricultural economy. The highest decadal growth (compound annual growth rate or CAGR) for agriculture has been just 3.5% in the 1980s. Also, after experiencing a spurt in decadal growth during the 1980s, agricultural growth suffered relative stagnation thereafter. This is in sharp contrast to non-agricultural growth, which consistently increased from the 1980s to 2000s.

QUESTION

CSAT

Medium

Comprehension

Prelims 2025

Which one of the following statements best reflects the corollary to the above passage?

Select an option to attempt

Explanation

Option A is correct: The passage contrasts agriculture with non-agriculture, stating that the agricultural sector “never experienced a high-growth phase” while non-agricultural growth “consistently increased from the 1980s to 2000s.”
This suggests that broader economic reforms or growth dynamics reached the non-agricultural sectors faster and more effectively than they did agriculture. Hence, it is reasonable to infer that benefits of reforms percolated more slowly to agriculture.

Option B is incorrect: The passage makes no mention of the Green Revolution or its outcomes. Bringing it in would require external information beyond the text.

(However, one could cautiously argue that option B might also appear valid if one interprets the stagnation in agricultural growth as a limitation of the Green Revolution’s long-term impact. Still, since the passage doesn’t mention it explicitly, it is secondary to option A).

Option C is incorrect: The passage deals with internal sectoral contrasts within India, not an international comparison.

Option D is incorrect: No causal link is made between rural-to-urban migration and stagnation in agriculture. This is speculative and unsupported by the text.

Hence, the most reasonable corollary based strictly on the passage is option A.