The central government has set up a panel to suggest ways to double farm incomes by 2022, as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The task of the inter-ministerial committee will prepare a blueprint to transition farm policies from being production oriented to based on incomes or value addition. The committee will look into ways to examine the potential of Indian agriculture and where investments are required, and will identify segments with potential for growth.

The inter-ministerial committee, which is expected to submit its recommendations in two months, will be headed by Ashok Dalwai, additional secretary at the agriculture ministry, and will have officials from the marketing, crops and horticulture divisions of the ministry as members. The other members are officials from the food processing ministry and experts from the Delhi-based National Council of Applied Economic Research and National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research.

The central government’s decision to set up the committee follows the budget announcement that set a goal of doubling farm incomes by 2022. Prime Minister Modi also suggested a seven-point strategy to double farm incomes while speaking at the Bloomberg India Economic Forum last month.

The focus areas, according to Modi, could be large investments in irrigation, quality seeds, soil health, cold chain and warehousing to prevent losses, value addition through food processing, creation of a pan-India national market for farm produce, and risk mitigation through crop insurance and diversifying into areas like poultry, bee keeping and fisheries.