Rural infrastructure and agricultural growth linkages in Jammu and Kashmir

An attempt has been made in this study to analyze the growth and impact of rural infrastructure on agricultural land/labour productivity in Jammu and Kashmir employing secondary data. The results indicated that although the road network in the state has significantly expanded but still number of regions are yet to be connected. Similarly 3% of the villages are yet to have electricity facility though the proportion of village electrified has increased since 1980s’. Moreover it is interesting to note that the electricity consumed for agricultural activities constitute only 5% of total electricity consumption in the state. As far as irrigation capacities in the state are concerned, it has shown only a marginal improvement over the years. While cooperative have shown a decline, the branches offices of banks have increased significantly. The estimates of agricultural land/labour productivity models revealed that rural infrastructure variables have significantly contributed to the growth of agricultural productivity and may have significant marginal impact. On the basis of major findings, this study suggests that the pace of growth in development of the agricultural economy has to be accompanied by consistent growth in rural infrastructure. The study also advocated the public-private partnership in building basic rural infrastructure uniformly across the state.