India's Agricultural Policy Transitions

This review traces the evolution of India's agricultural policy regime, centered on price supports, input subsidies, and complex trade policies that oscillate between protectionism and implicit taxation of farmers. It highlights three interlinked challenges: low farm incomes, poor diet quality, and environmental degradation. The policy architecture that ensures food security constrains the pace of agricultural transformation. Reform requires repurposing subsidies and restoring credibility to trade policy. While the digital infrastructure is in place to begin the shift to smarter subsidies, the political path is risky, as policy must seek credible ways to signal protection of farmer interests. Despite these policy rigidities, economic growth and urbanization continue to drive structural changes in agriculture. Diversification away from cereals, new food value chains, and rising integration with nonfarm employment are the key dynamic forces shaping agricultural outcomes. Future outcomes will depend on policy responses to emerging food value chains and new agricultural technologies.