Open up farm sector to boost exports: Advisory Group

The High-Level Advisory Group, set up by the government, has in a report advocated opening up of the agriculture sector to prop up exports.

According to the report, there is a need to dismantle the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs), which are great barriers to price discovery and are perpetuating exploitation of farmers by vested interests.

"This is a necessary starting point for expanding a sector, which must receive primary attention. It must be accompanied by predictability and stability in policies regarding import and export of agriculture products," it said.

It stressed the need to recognise the changing structure of agricultural exports and the urgent requirement to adjust to the relative scarcity of water and the exigencies of climate change.

The report also talks about raising India's share in global merchandise and services trade, managing bilateral trade ties and mainstreaming new-age policy making.

India must accord high priority to undertaking quantitative, rigorous, computational, model-based research on strategic trade policy, including studying the impact of participation in plurilateral trade agreements, the group said.

"All large economies have such capacities in their research institutions and even in government," the report said.

Stating that a knee-jerk, tit-for-tat approach on tariffs may not be the soundest one to pursue without greater examination if India faces greater tariffs, the report said, it would not be sensible for India to raise tariffs in a US-China trade war.

"In fact, reducing own tariffs would be a wiser step," it said.

( With inputs from IANS )