I think the Indian government is doing a wonderful job, that is policy framing and providing support for those policies. Our scientists are also doing a good job. the amount of information that is made available to farmers in India is great compared to many other nations. The only hitch here is, and I do not know who is responsible for this, our per acre yield has been very low in main crops like rice wheat and maize. We are very slow in looking out of the country and adopting foreign technology. Perhaps it is our self pride which percolates into all the government departments that we watch even tiny countries like Bangladesh and Srilanka produce three times more than what we produce per acre. SRI method for rice was invented by a jesuit priest in Madagascar, many years ago. These priests are not paid for this type or any other type of job. But our scientists who are paid handsomely could not think out of the box, and try to increase the crop even while the rest of the world was ahead of us. Similar situation has been prevailing in many other crops. Even our larger farmers have traditionally been naive entrepreneurs. Small farmers are not in a position of taking risks. But now the situation is changing, and our people, agri scientists and officers are living upto their responsibilities. Though there is scope for increasing their part of activity. ie. making good quality seeds available in remote places. For instance, if a farmer wants to try basmati rice in south, fetching seeds is the first nightmare, and then processing. Instead of forcing people live on the lowest quality rice, why should good quality rice seed be not made an option for people in certain large areas.
Apart from this, the financial assistance program for cold storage, for machinery etc, i feel is too liberal, and good.
In conclusion, Govt's role in agriculture must not be reduced. It is good as it is.
