What drives India’s maize crop revolution?
A persistent policy question in India is whether farmers actually respond to Minimum Support Prices (MSP) when choosing crops. Marc Nerlove’s 1956 study showed farmers adjust crop area gradually based on past prices. Today, the debate continues, particularly for maize, where MSP procurement remains negligible despite announced support prices.
One of the long-standing puzzles confronting agricultural policymakers in India is whether farmers respond to the Minimum Support Price (MSP) while deciding the cropping pattern.
The question of price responsiveness among farmers gained prominence after the influential 1956 study by a famous American agricultural economist Marc Nerlove, who found that farmers adjust area allocation gradually guided by past price signals.
Nearly seven decades later, the debate still echoes in India’s agricultural policy discourse, especially in crops like maize, where MSP-based procurement support is almost zero.
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Source : The Hindu Business line
