Public expenditure on agriculture and allied activities in Tamil Nadu during the post reform era

Abstract

Agriculture forms the backbone of the Indian economy. Agricultural success is systematically related to how high the share of total budgetary expenditures goes to agriculture. A great concern has been widely expressed by several economists that economic reforms have negative impact on government expenditure particularly in agricultural sector. In this backdrop, an attempt has been made to know the impact of economic reforms on Tamil Nadu state government’s expenditure in agriculture and allied activities. The study shows that over the period of economic reform, in Tamil Nadu, growth rate of expenditure on agriculture and allied activities slowed down significantly. The share of expenditure on agriculture in state domestic product has also decelerated. This is really disturbing.