Indian agriculture -- Issues and Options In context of international trade reforms

摘要

The country has a great potential to achieve rapid economic growth in the next twenty years. In fact, it is in many ways poised to match or even exceed China's spectacular overall growth performance. This is partly because China is slowing down itsown rapid rates of annual economic growth of 11 percent since the past decade, and partly because India is likely to speed from its relatively low growth rate of 5.6 percent. However, with the changing context and environment confronting the agriculturalsector against the backdrop of ongoing domestic economic reforms in the country and international trade reforms as a result of the WTO trade regime, the objectives of the country's agriculture have changed greatly. In addition, to increase agriculturalproduction to meet the food security needs of the growing population, we are now required to pay attention to increased efficiency (lowering of real unit costs) due to growing competition and resource crunch, and issues like sustainability, income generation, balanced regional growth, employment, poverty and malnutrition, environment, exports etc. These issues are inter-related and are sometimes conflicting. Therefore, an agricultural strategy is required that can bolster the production in a cost-effective manner as well as tackle the newly emerging issues indicated above.