Opening farm sector for global trade will give farmers a bigger market: S Narayan
Farm sector distress is expected to worsen, cautioned S Narayan, who was the Economic Adviser to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
No remunerative prices
Speaking on ‘Economy in Election Year’, organised by the Chennai chapter of the Observers Research Foundation, Narayan said the underlying problem is one of abundance of production and farmers not getting remunerative prices. State governments are not doing enough to create markets for farmers’ produce.
As such, there is little that can be done in the short run, which means the stress in the agriculture sector will only worsen.
However, in the long run, the only inevitable solution will happen: India will open up agriculture for international trade, giving farmers an opportunity to export their produce. Narayan, who was also Finance Secretary, noted that India is opposed to opening up its agriculture sector for international trade, fearing developed countries may flood the Indian market with their goods and cause distress to Indian farmers.
However, today, many of the commodities that developed countries are keen to export to India are already being imported by the country out of necessity. He gave the example of almonds and lentils, mainly tur dal.
On the other hand, liberalising agriculture will give Indian farm commodities a bigger market, he said. “Unless you provide a market, there is no solution,” he said. Incidentally, last month, the government cleared an agriculture export policy (which Narayan referred to) that seeks to raise shipments of agricultural products to worth $60 billion by 2022.
Please click here to read more.