I entirely agree with Rajeev on the importance of agriculture to Indian economy! But the sad part is, with current prices, the economics of agriculture is too much against the farmers, forcing heavy debt burden on them, even forcing them to commit suicides!
Two reasons for this: Heavy subsidies by the governments in developed countries! To put in perspective, the total aid granted by G8 countries in the recently touted summit to Africa, till 2010, amounts to less than 10% of the total agricultural subsidies given by these countries annually!!!
Second, the lack of land reforms and huge resistance for corporate sector to get into agriculture!! This leads to heavy diseconomies of scale and low productivity, adding to the problem of low prices!
I hope more people like Mr. MS Swaminathan and Dr. Cherian take active interest in developing agriculture as a profession to end our farmers' woes!
