How PM Modi can fulfill his pledge of doubling farmers' income by 2022

The NITI Aayog's proposals could be sent to the Indian cabinet before September for a decision so that a selected program could be implemented before the harvesting of monsoon-sown crops from October

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to double farm incomes by 2022. The most cost-effective way of fulfilling that may be by compensating farmers with cash when market prices of crops fall below support rates, a government adviser said.

The plan is one among three suggestions being discussed by the National Institution for Transforming India, a government think-tank also known as NITI Aayog, which has been tasked to find ways to ensure farmers’ get at least 50 percent more than the production cost for their crops even when prices slump.

The two other options are the purchase of crops by government agencies