Budget 2022: Farmers in need of a new deal, says ICRIER's Ashok Gulati

'Much of the agricultural policies in the past have focused on production', said Gulati

The repeal of the farm Acts and the upcoming Assembly polls have put the spotlight on the agricultural and rural sectors in the impending Budget. Ashok Gulati, Infosys chair professor for agriculture at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), in an interview with Sanjeeb Mukherjee, looks at challenges arising from this. Edited excerpts.

Now that the Budget is round the corner, what are your expectations from it for the agricultural and rural sectors?

The biggest items in the Budget will be food and fertiliser subsidies. Those will extract a substantial portion of the Budget resources. That