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

CSATMediumPrelims 2025Comprehension

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

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.