The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the agricultural policy of the European Commission. It implements a system of agricultural subsidies and other programmes. It was introduced in 1962 and has since then undergone several changes to reduce the EEC budget cost and consider rural development in its aims. It has however, been criticised on the grounds of its cost, its environmental, and humanitarian effects.
Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan was an Indian Agronomist, Agricultural scientist, Geneticist, Administrator and Humanitarian. Swaminathan was a global leader of the green revolution. He has been called the main architect of the green revolution in India for his leadership and role in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice. Swaminathan's collaborative scientific efforts with Norman Borlaug, spearheading a mass movement with farmers and other scientists and backed by public policies, saved India and Pakistan from certain famine-like conditions in the 1960s. His leadership as director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines was instrumental in his being awarded the first World Food Prize in 1987, recognized as one of the highest honours in the field of agriculture. The United Nations Environment Programme has called him "the Father of Economic Ecology". He was recently conferred the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of the Republic of India, in 2024.
National Knowledge Commission was an Indian think-tank charged with considering possible policies that might sharpen India's comparative advantage in the knowledge-intensive service sectors. It was constituted on 13 June 2005, by the then Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh.
Farmer suicides in India refers to the national catastrophe of farmers dying by suicide since the 1970s, due to their inability to repay loans mostly taken from private landlords and banks. NCRB data shows that the incidence of farmer suicides has remained high in the 6 years between 2014 and 2020. 5,600 farmers died by suicide in 2014, and 5,500 farmers died by suicide in 2020. If the agricultural labourers are added to the 2020 number, the number of suicides rises to over 10,600.
The history of agriculture in India dates back to the Neolithic period. India ranks second worldwide in farm outputs. As per the Indian economic survey 2020 -21, agriculture employed more than 50% of the Indian workforce and contributed 20.2% to the country's GDP.
The Green Revolution was a period that began in the 1960s during which agriculture in India was converted into a modern industrial system by the adoption of technology, such as the use of high yielding variety (HYV) seeds, mechanised farm tools, irrigation facilities, pesticides, and fertilizers. Mainly led by agricultural scientist M. S. Swaminathan in India, this period was part of the larger Green Revolution endeavor initiated by Norman Borlaug, which leveraged agricultural research and technology to increase agricultural productivity in the developing world. Varieties or strains of crops can be selected by breeding for various useful characteristics such as disease resistance, response to fertilizers, product quality and high yields.
The Law Commission of India is an executive body established by an order of the Government of India. The commission's function is to research and advise the government on legal reform, and is composed of legal experts, and headed by a retired judge. The commission is established for a fixed tenure and works as an advisory body to the Ministry of Law and Justice.
From the 1991 India economic crisis to its status of third largest economy in the world by 2011, India has grown significantly in terms of economic development, so has its banking sector. During this period, recognizing the evolving needs of the sector, the Finance Ministry of the Government of India set up various committees with the task of analyzing India's banking sector and recommending legislation and regulations to make it more effective, competitive and efficient.
The National Development Council (NDC) or Rashtriya Vikas Parishad is the apex body for decision creating and deliberations on development matters in India, presided over by the Prime Minister. It was set up on 6 August 1952 to strengthen and mobilize the effort and resources of the nation in support of the Five Year Plans made by Planning Commission, to promote common economic policies in all vital spheres, and to ensure the balanced and rapid development of all parts of the country. The Council comprises the Prime Minister, the Union Cabinet Ministers, Chief Ministers of all States or their substitutes, representatives of the Union Territories and the members of the NITI Aayog.
The Essential Commodities Act (ECA) is an act of the Parliament of India that was established to ensure the delivery of certain commodities or products, the supply of which, if obstructed due to hoarding or black marketing, would affect the normal life of the people. This includes foodstuff, drugs, fuel etc. This act was modified by the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 as part of the 2020 Indian farm reforms.
The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), also known as the Gadgil Commission after its chairman Madhav Gadgil, was an environmental research commission appointed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests of India. The commission submitted the report to the Government of India on 31 August 2011. The Expert Panel approached the project through a set of tasks, such as:
- Compilation of readily available information about Western Ghats
- Development of Geo-spatial database based on environmental sensitivity, and
- Consultation with Government bodies and Civil society groups.
The Pradhan Mantri fasal bima yojana (PMFBY) launched on 18 February 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an insurance service for farmers for their yields. It was formulated in line with One Nation–One Scheme theme by replacing earlier two schemes National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS) by incorporating their best features and removing their inherent drawbacks (shortcomings). It aims to reduce the premium burden on farmers and ensure early settlement of crop assurance claim for the full insured sum.
The minimum support price (MSP) is an advisory price signal that is part of a larger set of agricultural policies in parts of India. This informal "support" price is recommended by the government and aims to safeguard the farmer to a minimum profit for the harvest while at the same time increasing food security in the country. MSP was initially an incentive for farmers to adopt technology with an aim of increasing the productivity of agricultural land in the 1960s, however in the 2000s it is seen as a market intervention and farmer income scheme. The effectiveness of such a price policy has varied widely between states and commodities. Awareness among farmers of the existence of an MSP is poor at 23%, while awareness of MSP procurement agencies is also poor with only about 20–25% of wheat and paddy produce being sold at MSP.
The Kargil Review Committee (KRC) was set up by the Government of India on 29 July 1999, three days after the end of the Kargil War. The committee was set up "to examine the sequence of events and make recommendations for the future".
The Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY)(http://pmmsy.dof.gov.in/) is an initiative launched by the Government of India to establish a comprehensive framework and reduce infrastructural gaps in the fisheries sector. The scheme was announced by the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman during her speech in the parliament of India while presenting the Union budget for 2019–20 on 5 July 2019. The government intends to place India in the first place in Fish production and processing by implementing Neeli Kranti (transl. Blue Revolution). This scheme is in line with governments aim to double the farmers' income by 2022–23.
The Indian agriculture acts of 2020, often termed the Farm Bills, were three acts initiated by the Parliament of India in September 2020. The Lok Sabha approved the bills on 17 September 2020 and the Rajya Sabha on 20 September 2020. The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, gave his assent on 27 September 2020.
Doubling farmers' income (DFI) is a target set by the government of India in February 2016 to be achieved by 2022. The DFI Committee submitted hundreds of recommendations to this effect in September 2018 and is empowered to oversee their implementation.
Rashtriya Barh Ayog or the National Flood Commission (NFC) was set up by the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation of India in 1976. to study India’s flood-control measures. This was done after the projects launched under the National Flood Control Program of 1954 failed to achieve much success. RBA or NFC is responsible for flood control problems in the country and draws out a national plan fixing priorities for implementation in the future. Though the RBA report was submitted in 1980 and accepted by Government, not much progress was reported around the implementation of its recommendations. The report stated, “It is clear that while the maximum area flooded in any one year may broadly indicate the degree of the flood problem in a state, it does not strictly indicate the area liable to floods as different areas may be flooded in different years". The NFC estimated that the total area vulnerable to floods in 1980 was around 40 million hectares. In 1980, the National Flood Commission made 207 recommendations and four broad observations. They are stated below
The 2024 Indian farmers' protest is the second round of continuous protests and road blockades initiated by farmers in the northern states of Punjab and Haryana on 13 February 2024. The primary requests of the protests include securing legal assurance for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops and complete forgiveness of loans for all farmers.
Government of India 