Budget 2018: Despite record harvests in 2017, why farmers still struggle

Budget 2018: Despite record harvest, why are 600 million Indians struggling to get by

Indian farms produced record harvests in 2017, and the government’s agricultural budget rose 111% over four years to 2017-18. Yet, prices crashed, 8,007 farmers committed suicide in 2015, unpaid agricultural loans rose 20% between 2016 and 2017, and 600 million Indians who depend on agriculture are struggling to get by.

This is the situation that faces the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government as it heads into its last full budget before general elections in 2019, at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised a doubling of farm incomes by 2022.