Distress in the Fields: Indian Agriculture After Economic Liberalization

In 2021, India completed three decades of implementation of economic liberalization policies. This volume is a composite and critical account of Indian agriculture during liberalization. Agriculture was one of the most contentious arenas of policy making in this period, marked by occasional spurts of growth coexisting with acute agrarian distress. From the standpoint of political economy, this volume discusses and analyses a range of themes in Indian agriculture including land ownership, tenancy, public investment and expenditure, prices, international trade, crop incomes and profitability, input subsidies, credit, insurance, marketing and food distribution. A key feature of the volume is its simultaneous focus on both a broader macroeconomic outlook and extensive evidence collected through intensive village surveys.

The contributions to the volume demonstrate that the impact of policies of liberalization on agriculture was uneven and adverse. Even as the growth of large-scale agrarian capital from below was stymied by policy, agrarian transformation continued to be characterized by inequality and differentiation.

The book will serve as essential teaching material and a valuable reference text for students and researchers of Indian agriculture.