Introduction [In The political economy of agricultural policy reform in India]

Birner, Regina; Gupta, Surupa; and Sharma, Neeru. 2015. Introduction. In The political economy of agricultural policy reform in India. Chapter 1. Pp. 3-6. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/154605

Food production and agricultural development have been core areas of concern for policymakers in India since Independence. In the 1960s, food shortages and foreign-exchange shortages led to major political challenges after the United States decided to use food exports as an instrument of foreign policy. As a consequence, the government of india (GoI) adopted policies that aimed at making the country self-sufficient in foodgrain production (Subramaniam 1995). Together with promoting high-yielding varieties, two policies have been instrumental in achieving this goal: promoting the application of fertilizer and promoting groundwater irrigation. According to several estimates, between 50 and 60 percent of the increase in foodgrain production in India since the 1960s can be attributed to higher fertilizer use (Venugopal 2004, 59-60), and between 55 and 60 percent of India's irrigated lands now depend on groundwater (Shah et al. 2003). Although the policy framework achieved the intended goal of food self-sufficiency, subsidizing the costs of fertilizer and electricity-along with other policies put in place to launch the Green Revolution-has met with increasing criticism during the past decade.