Agricultural Policies in India
This report assesses the performance of agricultural and food policy in India and
calculates a set of policy indicators providing a comprehensive picture of agricultural
support. These indicators, developed by the OECD, are already used regularly in the
analysis of the agriculture and food sector in 51 OECD countries and emerging economies
and are now available for India for the first time.
Government intervention in India is found to provide both negative and positive support
to agriculture, with market and trade interventions often depressing prices, while
subsidies to fertilisers, water, power and other inputs incentivise their use. This
reveals the inherent difficulty in attempting to secure remunerative prices and higher
incomes for farmers, while at the same time keeping food prices low for consumers.
The report also points to policy-induced pressures on natural resources such as water
and soil. Detailed recommendations are offered which, if implemented, have the potential
to improve farmers' welfare, reduce environmental damage, alleviate some of the pressure
on scarce resources, better prepare the sector for climate change, improve food and
nutrition security for the poor, improve domestic market functioning and position
India to participate more fully in agro-food global value chains.
Published on July 05, 2018
In series:OECD Food and Agricultural Reviewsview more titles