Swaminathan Commission

Background and evolution

By the early 2000s Indian agriculture faced a crisis: stagnant productivity, rising input costs, mounting debt and a wave of farmer suicides in several states. The government set up the National Commission on Farmers in November 2004 to suggest a comprehensive strategy. Its chairman, M. S. Swaminathan, was known as the scientific leader of the Green Revolution, which had made India self-sufficient in food grains.

The commission submitted five reports between December 2004 and October 2006. It argued that farmers' income, not just production, should be the measure of agricultural progress. It also stressed sustainability, warning that the intensive use of water, fertilisers and pesticides in Green Revolution regions was damaging soil and groundwater.

Key features and provisions

• Minimum support price: MSP should be at least 50% more than the weighted average cost of production, using the comprehensive "C2" cost, which includes rent on land and interest on capital.
• Land: distribute surplus and wasteland, protect prime farmland from diversion, and regulate the sale of agricultural land.
• Water: promote rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge and expansion of irrigation.
• Credit and insurance: expand formal credit, reduce interest rates for crop loans to 4%, create a farmers' distress fund and widen crop insurance.
• Productivity: more investment in research, soil testing and extension services.
• Markets: a single national market, better storage, and support for farmers' cooperatives and producer groups.
• Policy: recommended a national farmers' policy, which the government adopted in 2007.