Policy making in a democracy reflects the vision, needs, and expectations of key stakeholders. In the first two decades after independence, India faced severe foodgrain shortages. Thanks to government policies, investment in research, and farmers’ progressive outlook, the country has since achieved self-sufficiency in basic cereals and allied production.Yet the agriculture sector faces many risks and continues to underperform relative to its potential. Periodic shortages of essential crops lead to frequent bouts of double-digit food inflation. Political leadership sees uncontrolled inflation as a threat with potential electoral costs, prompting persistent government intervention through emergency imports, export bans, minimum export prices, and stock limits. These measures often yield sub-optimal results even in the short term and hamper long-term solutions.
.png)
