Across the world, farm subsidies are the gold standard of political patronage. In the EU, you get paid to plant more. In the U.S., sometimes to not plant at all. Inputs, machines, insurance, fuel — all discounted. And then there’s the ultimate sweetener: the cash dole.
India? Not to be left behind. We now give ₹6000/year to farmers as DBT — and call it income support. But is it?
Let’s be honest — is that ₹6000 really going into seeds and soil? Or is it getting eaten by medical bills, school fees, or festival loans?
Meanwhile, fertilizer subsidies are skewed dangerously — heavy on nitrogen, light on balance. Free electricity? A direct invitation to drain the groundwater.
Globally too, subsidies have encouraged excesses, mono-cropping, over-dependence, and distorted resource use. Why? Because most policies treat farmers as if they’re just victims to be compensated — not stakeholders to be empowered.
And let’s face it — many farmers, when left to short-term thinking, behave irrationally. Not out of ignorance, but out of compulsion. Which is exactly why the system needs smarter nudges — targeted, behavioral interventions that align farmer well-being with sustainability and consumer interest.
If we keep paying farmers to survive, but not change, we’re just planting doles — not reforms.
