Prices of Essentials Up, Foodgrain Output Down

Express News Service

Hyderabad: The living standards of people in the state have improved by and large, as per the socio-economic survey 2012-13 presented to the Assembly on Monday.
However, the prices of essential commodities increased. The survey said the average daily retail prices of rice, redgram and groundnut oil have shown an increase, whereas prices of tamarind, red chillies and onions have shown a decreasing trend from April to December 2012, when compared to the corresponding period last year.
LAND HOLDINGS: The average size of land holdings in the state declined to 1.08 hectares during 2010-11 from 1.20 hectares in 2005-06. The number of holdings has increased from 1.20 crore in 2005-06 to 1.32 crore in 2010-11.
However, the area under foodgrains is expected to be only 66.32 lakh ha in 2012-13 as against 72.89 lakh ha in 2011-12, showing a decline of 9.01 per cent. The total production of foodgrains in 2012-13 is expected to be 170.78 lakh tonne, while it was 184.02 lakh tonne in 2011-12, registering a decline of 13.24 lakh tonne (7.19 percent).
FIRST IN HORTICULTURE: The survey stated that Andhra Pradesh ranks first in the production of spices and fruits and third in the production of flowers in the country. AP ranked first in the production of citrus, papaya, oil palm and tomato; second in mango, cashew; third in loose flowers; and fourth in the production of banana in 2011.
The area under horticulture crops grew annually at the rate of 6 percent from 2001-02 to 2012-13 with the production growth being more impressive at 9.8 percent.
UNEMPLOYMENT DOWN: The unemployment rate decreased in the state from 1999-2000 to 2004-05 in both urban and rural areas.
The decline in urban unemployment from 39 to 36 points was sharper compared to rural unemployment from 8 to 7. The rural unemployment rate has however increased by five points from 7 in 2004-05 to 12 in 2009-10, whereas the urban unemployment rate decreased by five points from 36 to 31.
"The overall strategy for the 12th Plan should be to look beyond growth and focus on employment generation," the survey suggested.
LITERACY: Literacy rate in the state has witnessed an upward trend and is 67.66 per cent as per 2011 census. Of that, male literacy stands at 75.56 percent, while female literacy is at 59.74 percent. Literacy rate in AP stood at 60.47 percent in 2001, of which male and female literacy rates were 71.16 percent and 50.29 percent respectively. In actual numbers, total literates in AP are 5,14,38,510 of which 2,87,59,782 are male and 2,26,78,728 are female.

BLURB
Socio-economic survey suggests focus on employment generation