Overview
Following liberalizing economic reforms in the late 1980s and early 1990s, India is now one of the world's fastest growing economies, as well as the second most populous. Faster growth is strengthening and diversifying food demand, and India now a leading world importer of vegetable oils and pulses. Despite a rich and extensive agricultural resource base and rising producer subsidies, farm sector investment and growth have remained sluggish, creating pressure for reform of domestic agricultural policies. It has been difficult to achieve consensus on the reform agenda, but measures to increase market orientation, improve marketing efficiency, promote use of biotechnology, and strengthen incentives for private investment are moving forward. ERS research focuses on understanding the trade implications of changes in consumer demand, market structure, and domestic and trade policy that are likely to occur as the Indian economy continues its rapid expansion.
Features
The Environment for Agricultural
and Agribusiness Investment in India (July 2008). Despite strong overall economic growth
and strengthening food demand, investment in Indian agriculture
and agribusiness has remained sluggish, and growth in farm
output has slowed, since the early 1990s. The policy environment
has grown more investor friendly since the late 1990s and
private investment appears to be responding, but significant
barriers remain and the pace of future reforms remains
uncertain.
The
Elephant Is Jogging: New Pressures for Agricultural Reform
in India (February 2004). India's economy and agricultural sector have
made remarkable progress in the 57 years since independence
in 1947. Now, however, the agricultural sector has outgrown
the policies that contributed to past success, as strengthening
consumer demand, rising subsidies, and low agribusiness
investment create pressure for policy reform.
Indian Wheat and Rice Sector Policies and the Implications of Reform (May 2007). The economic environment for India's food grain sector has changed significantly since the Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Future developments will be shaped by changes in productivity and consumer demand, but primarily by how policies adapt to the new environment. Some of these changes, such as reducing price supports and the scope of government food grain operations, would likely curtail government costs, benefit consumers, allow for a larger private sector role in the domestic market, and increase reliance on international trade.
|
