Impact of the 2009 drought on agricultural output: Fantasy or reality?
The Central Statistical Organisation's advance estimate of a decline in the agricultural sector's output in 2009-10 by a mere 0.2% is a highly optimistic forecast. An analysis of the numbers in the latest estimates of foodgrain output and a comparison of output/GDP changes in the drought years of 2002-03 and 2009-10 tells us why.