Agricultural Policy Reforms and Farmer Welfare in India

Agriculture remains the foundation of India’s rural economy, sustaining more than half of the workforce and ensuring national food security. In the past decade, the Government of India has introduced wide-ranging policy reforms aimed at transforming agriculture from a subsistence sector into a sustainable, market-linked, and climate-resilient enterprise. This paper examines the evolution and performance of key reforms—Minimum Support Price (MSP) policy, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), Kisan Credit Card (KCC), and market liberalization measures—and evaluates their combined effect on farmer welfare. Using secondary data from 2016 to 2025, evaluation reports, and government dashboards, the research analyses outcomes in income security, risk mitigation, credit access, and inclusion. Implementation challenges such as data gaps, delays, and regional inequality are also explored. The study concludes that sustainable welfare requires not isolated schemes but a coherent policy bundle integrating price assurance, risk protection, credit, infrastructure, and participatory governance.