Domestic support to the agriculture sector in the country is below the World Trade Organisation (WTO) norms and there is immense headroom for providing additional subsidies to the farmers, according to the Union minister of state for finance Balsaheb Vikhe Patil.
Agriculture subsidies in India works out to only $66 per farmer and $53 per hectare against $21,000 and $129, respectively, for USA; $17,000 and $831, respectively, for European Union; and $28,000 and $11,792 for Japan.