As India and the United States negotiate to expand bilateral trade from US$128.78 billion (2022–23) to US$ 500 billion annually by 2030, agriculture has emerged as a contentious area. The U.S. has been aggressively pressing for deeper access to India’s vast agri-market—an unrealistic demand that has unsettled Indian farmers.
In his Independence Day address on 15 August 2025 Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as a matter of policy, pledged to “stand like a wall” to protect farmers’ interests. His determined assertion reaffirmed India’s “Farmer First” policy, earning widespread appreciation domestically and globally.
Even within the U.S., many policymakers and economists, including Jeffrey Sachs, criticized President Donald Trump’s tariff threats on Indian goods—calling them “bizarre and self-destructive.” Nevertheless, on 26 August 2025, Trump announced a 25+25% tariff on Indian exports.
Instead of deterring India, this challenge has fortified nation’s determination. Farmers, scientists, and policymakers have viewed this as an opportunity for agricultural transformation and self-reliance.
Understanding the U.S. Demand
Over the past decade, the U.S. has repeatedly sought entry into India’s US$ 452 billion agricultural market (expected to reach US$ 563 billion by 2030). American farmers—facing domestic surpluses in soybean, corn, wheat, fruits, dairy, poultry, and meat—see India’s 1.46 billion consumers as a lifeline for their struggling agribusiness sector.
Capturing even a fraction of India’s market would deliver major economic and political dividends to U.S. leadership. The U.S. advantage, however, is based on unfair competition.
U.S. agriculture benefits from annual domestic subsidies often exceeding $20 billion, which creates an artificially low price point for their commodities. India cannot permit this highly subsidized, mechanized competition to devastate its domestic sector.
Why India Cannot Open Its Farm Sector
For India, agriculture is far more than a commercial venture—it is a cornerstone of food and nutritional security and the primary livelihood for 45per cent of the workforce. The sector anchors rural stability, employment, and the Viksit Bharat @2047 vision.
Opening Indian markets to highly subsidized, mechanized U.S. agriculture would distress domestic farmers and reverse decades of progress. India has already learnt this lesson. Liberalizing imports of edible oils and pulses in the 1990s discouraged local production, pushing import dependence to 57 per cent of edible oil consumption (worth ₹1.38 lakh crore) and pulses (worth ₹42,629 crore).
Of late, government allowed duty free import of cotton from September to December 2025 which resulted into forcing farmers to sell their produce much below the MSP. Thus, cotton growers are facing heavy losses this year. Entry of US maize, soybean, ethanol, dairy, or poultry sectors would similarly disrupt energy self-sufficiency, domestic value chains, and farm incomes.
The Protective Shield of MSP
Importantly, the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism and India’s public stockholding program are non-negotiable protective measures. These initiatives ensure a guaranteed income for small and marginal farmers, serving as a critical safeguard against the price volatility triggered by subsidized international commodities.
Dismantling or diluting this framework to satisfy trade partners would undermine the economic security and livelihoods of millions of small- and marginal farmers across the country.
Self-Reliance: The Shield Against Import Disruption
Agriculture currently contributes 15–18 per cent to India’s GDP, and could soon exceed 20 per cent with the right policy, infrastructure, and innovation support. The government’s rising budgetary allocation—from ₹21,933 crores in 2013–14 to ₹1.22 lakh crore in 2024–25—reflects a strong commitment to farm growth.
Several new initiatives that are pivotal and aim to fortify domestic production, reduce imports, and build resilience are important and given below:
Reforming Agricultural Trade and Exports
Before the U.S. tariff escalation, India had planned to raise agricultural exports from US$ 51.9 billion (2024–25) to US$ 100 billion by 2035. Exports to the U.S. stood at US$ 5.7 billion (11% of total), with over half potentially affected by tariffs.
In the long term, India needs to open its markets, at least proportionate to the access it wants from foreign markets. For this, there is a need for reforming trade and export policies. To sustain export growth, India must transition from being a protected economy to a globally competitive one by:
- Diversifying and upgrading its export portfolio with high-value processed products.
- Supporting MSMEs, FPOs, and SHGs in processing, branding, cold chains, and logistics.
- Expanding market promotion in ASEAN, Africa, EU, and Middle East.
- Ensuring stable export policies and avoid frequent bans.
- Meeting SPS and TBT standards through modern testing, traceability, and certification.
- Strengthening the ease-of-doing business, innovation incentives, and start-up ecosystems.
- Pursuing the Paroda Committee (2019) recommendations for smallholder empowerment and technological literacy.
Empowering the New-Age Farmer
Sustained farm transformation depends not on subsidies but on knowledge, skills, and innovation. Farmers must be equipped to adopt climate-resilient technologies, diversify production, and engage with modern value chains.
Agri-startups in mechanization, logistics, food processing, and marketing have already begun attracting educated youth by offering dignity, profitability, and purpose.
The High-Powered Committee on KVKs (2014), chaired by Dr RS Paroda, recommended transforming all 731 KVKs and 691 ATMA centres into “Knowledge–Skill–Innovation Hubs.” The Workshop on Motivating and Attracting Youth in Agriculture (MAYA) also proposed reforms such as:
- Revamping agricultural curricula.
- Institutional support for entrepreneurship.
- Vocational training in ICT, high-value crops, and supply chain management.
The Viksit Bharat vision is heavily reliant on digital public infrastructure (DPI) in agriculture. Initiatives related to digital services will provide personalized advisory services, credit access, and market linkages, ensuring that technological advances are inclusive and scalable across India’s millions of smallholder farmers.
Reimagining Agricultural Education
Future agriculture will be knowledge-intensive, driven by artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, robotics, drones, block chain, and precision farming.
Integrating agriculture with science, engineering, technology and mathematics (STEM) disciplines will nurture innovators capable of creating indigenous as well as globally competitive solutions. However, such transformation demands robust funding for higher education and research, ensuring that technology-driven agriculture remains inclusive and sustainable.
Building Cooperative Strength
Smallholders farmers often struggle to adopt technology due to lack of awareness and limited financial resources. Strengthening Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) and linking them with Farmers’ Producers Organizations (FPOs) and Self-Help Groups (SHGs) can provide credit access, storage, and equipment on a custom-hiring basis. An integrated production-to-marketing cooperative network can drastically improve farmers’ profitability and resilience.
Protecting India’s Agricultural Identity
India must safeguard its domestic agriculture and food industries by improving efficiency and competitiveness. Promoting “Make in India” agri-brands and instilling consumer confidence in local products is a step in the right direction.
Ultimately, India’s success will hinge on its ability to swiftly address tariff and non-tariff barriers, enhance policy frameworks and infrastructure, and establish its farm sector as a globally reliable, competitive, and self-reliant system.
Not Merely a Slogan
The “Farmer First” policy is not merely a slogan—it is the foundation of India’s food security, rural stability, and national sovereignty. Yielding to current trade pressure from the USA, opening gates for cotton, corn, soybean, dairy products, meat etc. are likely to affect Indian farmers adversely, especially when efforts are towards self-reliance.
Instead, policy support to grow GM food crops like corn and soybean will help increase production more efficiently and economically making our agriculture globally competitive.
The Bt cotton success stories are shining examples. With a well-planned coordinated and long term EXIM Policy-India stands to gain enormously but would need a bold policy environment and a strong push to scale aggressively ‘Make in India’ innovations.
(Dr R. S. Paroda is Chairman, Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences, and Former DG, ICAR and Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research & Education, GoI; Dr Ram Srivastava is Professor (Retd.), Haryana Agricultural University, and Consultant, Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences)
