India’s agriculture policies aimed at improving its food security have received increased scrutiny following the December 2013 World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial meeting in Bali, where India’s position on this issue almost doomed the entire talks. In fact, the growing use of agriculture subsidies by India and other developing countries like China are changing the dynamics of the WTO negotiations for new agriculture subsidies commitments, where the focus had previously been on developed country subsidies. India’s agriculture subsidies are also very costly and are coming at the expense of addressing other pressing development needs. It has also led India to adopting a defensive stance in the WTO Doha Round, focused on protecting these subsidies. As a result, India has missed the opportunity to shape the international trading system in ways that can strengthen food security in India. The recent election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi provides a key opportunity for India to rationalize its agriculture subsidies and to shift its focus in the WTO negotiations away from protecting its farmers to realizing the benefits for food security from imports and the opportunities for its agriculture sector from reducing barriers to agriculture exports in developed markets.
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