Need alternatives to farm subsidies: Study released by Finance Commission

Procurement-based support could be replaced with price deficiency payments, but in the medium-term, they become difficult to manage

The 15th Finance Commission, which is expected to submit its interim report this week, recently released a host of independent studies and analysis commissioned by it. The findings from the studies could form as inputs in the Commission’s final reports. The studies were done by the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), Xavier University, Bhubaneshwar, the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi, and NCAER among others. Following is a sum-up of some of the studies:

Agricultural subsidies 

Governments need to explore alternatives to price subsidies, as they have become inefficient overtime. Procurement-based support could be