Indian Inc may be upbeat about the economic boom that India is witnessing these days. But a new report from the Planning Commission says it is not boom, but gloom that is prevalent in the country's agriculture sector.

Growth in agriculture sector in India has slowed down considerably in the last two decades, leading to severe shortage of foodgrains including cereals and pulses, says the Commission.

The Commission's findings are part of a presentation it made to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh recently.

According to the report, per capita availability of foodgrains fell from 190 kg per year during 1976-80 to a low of 186 kg during 2004-07, the lowest level in the past two decades.

At the same time, India's population in the same period has increased nearly 60 per cent to more than 1.1 billion in 2007 compared to 1981 census figures of 684 million.

The per capita availability of cereals declined from 179 kg per year during 1981-85 to 174 kg during 2004-07. The availability of pulses too declined from 19 kg per person to 12 kg per persons during the same period.

Agriculture growth rate in major food producing states like Punjab and Haryana declined from more than 4 per cent between 1984-1996 to around 2 per cent between 1995-2005.

The foodgrain productivity at an all-India level dropped from 3.62 per cent to 1.85 per cent during the same period.

The farm output in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala decreased by 1.36, 0.23 and 3.54 per cent respectively during the decade ending 2004-05.

Agriculture growth rate was less than one per cent in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Orissa, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Assam during 1995-2005.

Saying that the data reflects the slow growth in India's agriculture sector, the Commission has warned that India is facing a grave foodgrans shortage.