Input subsidies, public investments and agricultural productivity in India

Abstract The fund allocation in agricultural sector in India is heavily tilted toward input subsidies provision; however, researchers seem to favor investment expenditure instead. The present paper seeks to compare the usefulness of input subsidies as compared to investment with regard to agricultural productivity so that policy makers hit the right tool and avoid less productive state expenditure. We investigated a total of four regression models using autoregressive and distributed lag cointegration in a time series framework covering period from 1983 to 2019. The first model considers all input subsidies in aggregate form, and the rest three models take input subsidies in disaggregate forms, namely fertilizer subsidy, irrigation subsidy and power subsidy, respectively. It is observed from the results that input subsidies still contribute more than what public investment does to agricultural productivity. It is also found that power subsidy is the most effective component of input subsidies followed by fertilizer subsidy. Hence, government expenditure on input subsidies is justified on the ground that it ensures all farmers to have access to affordable agricultural inputs. Targeted subsidies combined with adequate investment in agricultural infrastructure could deliver long-term agricultural development in India.