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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | The food economy: A Catch-22 for policymakers

The food economy: A Catch-22 for policymakers

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published Published on Jul 10, 2018   modified Modified on Jul 10, 2018
-Livemint.com

The best way to double the real incomes of Indian farmers would be to halve their numbers through job creation in other parts of the economy

The Narendra Modi government last week announced sharp increases in minimum support prices (MSPs) for a variety of farm products. The move itself is not unexpected. The first sign that the Modi government would shift away from its earlier strategy of minimal hikes to douse the inflation fire it inherited was evident in the February budget announced by finance minister Arun Jaitley, when there was a steep increase in the money kept aside for food subsidies as well as an explicit commitment to accept the advice given by M.S. Swaminathan that farmers should be paid 50% more than the cost of production. Rural distress is also a growing political concern as the country moves closer to the next general election.

The economics of the hike in farm support prices is more ambiguous than the politics. Higher prices are usually offered as an incentive for farmers to grow more. India currently has overflowing granaries—and Harish Damodaran has argued in The Indian Express that we are now in a new era of structural agricultural surpluses. The optimal policy response to such a structural surplus cannot be higher procurement prices—unless there are export opportunities to be harvested. The alternative is a massive food mountain.

The exact procurement plan is not yet clear, so assessing what it will mean for the rest of the economy is naturally uncertain. However, the immediate impact of the decision to hike minimum support prices could be milder than most people believe. There are three key issues to be considered.

First, a support price does not come with a commitment to buy whatever farmers offer. Actual procurement will be limited by the fiscal room available, especially at a time when a significantly higher fiscal deficit could lead to further pressure on the rupee. The actual incremental cost is likely to be between ? 15,000-30,000 crore, or between 0.07- 0.14% of gross domestic product for financial year 2019.

Second, minimum support prices in some cases continue to be lower than market prices, so farmers would rather sell to traders than government agencies. In this context, it is also worthwhile for the government to allow agro trading companies to buy more in the Indian market, especially given the limitations of the Food Corporation of India.

Third, much of the immediate inflation impact will depend on rice, which has the highest weightage in the consumer price index. It is significant that the increase in the support price for paddy is lower than the average increase announced for this year’s kharif crop. However, there is no doubt that headline inflation will inch closer to the upper limit of the official inflation band.

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Livemint.com, 9 July, 2018, https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/78EsqWmTPBmR5eVLNJShvL/The-food-economy-A-Catch22-for-policymakers.html


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