Updated By: LatestGKGS Desk
Agriculture GDP clocks 5.3% growth in Q1 (first quarter)
Central Statistics Office (CSO) estimated 1.5% positive growth in GDP based on winter harvest
A bumper harvest of winter crops and higher production in livestock and fisheries sectors aided a 5.3% growth in agriculture GDP in the first quarter of 2018-19, up from 3% in the same period last year.
The latest estimates from the Central Statistics Office CSO is based on Rabi or winter harvest during the agriculture crop year 2017-18 July to June.
Production of rice, wheat, coarse cereals and pulses registered growth rates of 15%, 1.2%, 15.6% and 17.3%, respectively, during the Rabi season, the CSO said in its estimates released on Friday.
About 45% of the gross value added or GVA in the agriculture sector was contributed by livestock, forestry and fisheries, which registered a combined growth rate of 8.1% in the first quarter of 2018- 19, it added.
According to the CSO, the wholesale food price index-one of the deflators used for calculating real GDP growth-rose 1.5% in the first quarter, compared with a negative growth of 1.7% a year ago.
