Though there was a remarkable shift in the State's economy from primary to secondary and further down to the tertiary sector in recent years, Assam still continues to be predominantly an agrarian economy. Therefore, the growth and development of rice cultivation is still very important in Assam as it provides staple food to more than 25 million people, in addition to generating income and employment directly or indirectly.
With the help of secondary data, yield growth rate for 23 Districts of Assam in seventeen years (1990–91 to 2006–07) has been computed, and to verify the disparity of the districts, an Agricultural Development Index (ADI) was also constructed with respect to a best performing year. After obtaining ADI score, the 23 districts of the State were categorised into six levels, based on agro-climatic zones and compared with the yield growth coefficients.