Opinion On agriculture, look for low-hanging fruit, move carefully
At the end of the day, India exports more agri produce to the US than it imports. Defending its export interests -- be it in shrimps, spices or basmati rice -- is as important as shielding domestic producers from imports
It is not for nothing that agriculture has been a key stumbling block in the trade negotiations. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that the India-US trade agreement will not force the country to open up its market to any “major crops”, be it foodgrain, fruits or dairy products. This comes even as the US Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins, has claimed that the deal announced by President Donald Trump on Monday would result in “export of [more] American farm products into India’s massive market”. The details of what has been agreed upon will be known only with its actual signing or issuance of a joint statement. Agriculture posed few problems when it came to finalising a free trade agreement with the European Union, which isn’t very cost competitive in most commodities. Also, imports of premium Gouda cheese, wines and spirits or olive oil from the Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain and Italy might not really hurt Indian farmers.
This may not be so with the US, which is a huge producer of large-acreage crops such as soyabean, corn and cotton. India, too, grows all three — soyabean on 13 million hectares (mh), and corn and cotton on 12 mh each. With average American per-hectare corn and soyabean yields at over 11 tonnes and 3.4 tonnes, as against India’s 3.5 tonnes and 1 tonne, the effects of large-scale imports of these two commodities would be no different from those of Indonesian and Malaysian palm oil. The US is, moreover, the world’s biggest producer and exporter of ethanol derived from corn. If India were to accommodate its demand for allowing imports of ethanol for blending in petrol and diesel, it is bound to face opposition from domestic distilleries producing the same from homegrown sugarcane and cereal grains. It is not for nothing that agriculture has been a key stumbling block in the trade negotiations.
But difficulties in opening up bulk commodity imports shouldn’t deter from identifying low-hanging fruit, where substantial scope for liberalisation exists. India is the US’s largest market for tree nuts, with an estimated $1.5 billion worth of imports in 2025. Why should it impose an import duty of 100 per cent on walnuts and Rs 100/kg on shelled almonds when there is hardly any domestic cultivation of these dry fruits? The same goes for blueberries and cranberries. At the end of the day, India exports more agri produce to the US than it imports. Defending its export interests — be it in shrimps, spices or basmati rice — is as important as shielding domestic producers from imports. It calls for a flexible approach where maximalist and overly defensive positions should give way to more proactive give-and-take.
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