Growth Dimensions of Agriculture in Gujarat State: A Factor Analysis Approach

The study was undertaken to examine the growth dimensions of agriculture in Gujarat for a better insight into the agricultural development process. The data on 37 indicators for the period from 1980–81 to 2007–08 were collected and analyzed for six different periods using factor analysis. A broad and fair representation of the large number of indicators could be made in four orthogonal factors which accounted for about more than 65 per cent of the total variation in agricultural development in the correlation matrix. The districts of Mehsana, Kheda, Banaskantha and Rajkot had higher indices of agricultural development during different periods. The Dang district ranked last in all the periods. The values of development indices varied from -0.946 in case of Dang to 0.652 in case of Kheda. More focus on important agricultural parameters having higher loading values and due priority to the districts having relatively lower development indices are some of the suggestions emerged from the present study to put the agriculture on the pedestal of sustainable Growth.