Given the vulnerability of Indian agriculture to vagaries of nature, discuss the need for crop insurance and bring out the salient features of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
Questions repeat on direct and indirect farm subsidies and WTO's Agreement on Agriculture, distortions, subsidies' effect on cropping, MSP and the low-income trap, and crop insurance (PMFBY).
What to cover
Types of subsidies: input, price, credit
AoA boxes: amber, blue, green; de minimis
MSP: CACP, procurement concentration
PMFBY features and issues
Writing the answer
Link domestic policy with WTO obligations
These notes are for the whole theme, built from all 6 of its PYQs. UPSC does not publish model answers.