Economic and Political Weekly – Online

At the time of independence, Indian agriculture was an example of everything that was wrong with the economy of an “underdeveloped” country. Even when nearly three-fourths of its working population worked on its vast farmlands, served by an extensive spread of rivers and a wide range of climatic conditions, India could not produce enough food for its population. The newly independent country had to import a considerable amount of foodgrains from the “developed” countries of the First World, with the United States being the chief supplier. While the food-surplus countries of the Western world eagerly agreed to sell, or even give away food as aid, their supplies came with “conditions,” unfavourable to a nation ...

The Times of India – Online

The support for agriculture producers and consumer were significantly unlike between certain set of nations, numbers published by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) showed. In its Agricultural Policy Monitoring 2020 report, the organisation noted that India was among the countries that was actually taking money out of the pockets of its farmers by setting low prices for some commodities.

The OECD estimated losses to farmers at $23 billion in 2019 after deducting any financial support payments or discounts that producers also receive. Fierce protests about opening up the system of minimum support prices (MSPs) and government-controlled wholesale markets (mandis) are currently rocking the various parts of the country.