Jharkhand’s agriculture sector contributed 14% to GSDP in 2015-16. Crop production constitutes more than 60 percent of the output of the agriculture sector in Jharkhand.13The state has a higher than national average productivity (kg/hectare) for Paddy and Pulses.

The state has large chunks of uplands and a mild climate that offers immense potential for diversification of the agricultural economy. It has 10 lakh hectares of upland without chemicals that can be used for large-scale organic cultivation.

The key production statistics for the state (the year 2015-16) are presented below:

Production Cluster of the State:-

The State has about 2 million tons of high-quality surplus vegetables available for processing or export and the climate is also very conducive for round the year cultivation of high-value crops viz., Cauliflower, Broccoli, Lettuce, etc. Most of the vegetables grown in the State have good acceptability in fresh retail markets.

As per the Annual Survey of Industries 2014-15, there are 219 registered food processing units in the state.

Agricultural markets in Jharkhand :

• 28 Mandis
• 631 Rural Markets Processing Clusters
• 8 Farmer Producer Organisations
• 19 Mandis in ENam
• 192 Secondary Assembly Markets

Geographical Indication of Agricultural Processing in Jharkhand:

• About 80% of the rural population of the state depends on agriculture. Rice is the major food crop of the state, covering 80% of the cropped area. The state’s soil and climatic conditions also support the cultivation of ornamental plants, mushrooms, spices, and tea
• Swastik Fruits Products Limited and Swastik Aqua Limited, two companies under Swastik Group, produce mango juice (sold under ‘Frooti’ brand) and apple juice (sold under ‘Appy Fizz’ brand) for Parle Agro, which is one of the major processed food companies in India. The company has two states of the art units at Ranchi in Jharkhand
• Tata Steel is one of the world’s largest steel manufacturers. The company is setting up a 12 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) greenfield integrated steel plant in the state at Seraikela, supported by a state-of-the-art plant in Jamshedpur with a capacity of 7 MTPA. Meanwhile, one of Tata’s joint venture companies set up a new 250,000 tonnes production facility at Bara, Jamshedpur to manufacture Zinc-Aluminium coated coils
• JSPL(Jindal Steel & Power Ltd.) is a leading player in steel, power, mining, oil and gas, cement, and infrastructure. The company plans to invest US$10 billion in setting up a 12-MTPA integrated steel plant and a 2,640-MW captive power plant in the state. The company is setting up a 6 MTPA steel plant and a 1,320 MW captive power plant (CPP) at Patratu, district Ramgarh. A wire rod mill of 0.6 MTPA and a bar mill of 1 MTPA with a rebar service center has already been commissioned