An analytical study on impact of WTO on agricultural trade in India
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Date
2019-12
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Publisher
CCSHAU, Hisar
Abstract
The study on “An analytical study on impact of WTO on agricultural trade in India” was done with the
following objectives: (1) To study the trends of agricultural trade in India during Pre and Post-WTO regime (2)
To compute the terms of trade in Indian agriculture (3) To examine the comparative advantage in India‟s
agricultural trade (4) To study the instability of India‟s agricultural trade and suggest appropriate policy measures
for improving the agricultural trade. The present study was based on secondary data collected from the various
published sources, viz., various issues of hand book of RBI, FAO Trade year Book, Statistical Abstract in India,
indiastat.com, FAOSTAT etc. The data were grouped into two periods (Pre-WTO and Post-WTO) depending
upon the formation of world trade organization and its effect on export and import of agricultural sector, Period-I
is characterized by impact of world trade organization on agricultural trade before formation of world trade
organization and ranged from 1975 to1994 and Period-II ranged from 1995 to 2015 which is the Post-WTO
period. India became a member of WTO on 1st January 1995 and it was the first multilateral agreement, meant to
curb unfair practices in agricultural trade and set off the process of reforms in the agricultural sector. A
decreasing trend was observed in agricultural export share of India in world‟s agricultural export during pre-
WTO period and an increasing trend during post-WTO period whereas India‟s import share showed reverse trend.
Agricultural export share in national export has been showing decreasing trend during pre as well as post-WTO
period. Similarly agricultural import share in national import has been showing decreasing trend during pre and
post-WTO period. Terms of trade of agricultural sector of India in quantity as well as value terms were decline
during pre-WTO period and intensified during post-WTO period. Indian agricultural sector shows trade surplus
during pre-WTO period as well as post-WTO period. India has gained comparative advantage in export of
cereals, pulses, spices and cash crops and comparative disadvantage in oilseeds, dairy products and eggs, meat
and meat preparation whereas mixed result observed in case of fruits and vegetables export. Agricultural trade
and national trade were stable during pre-WTO period as compared to post-WTO period.