The devastating effect on crops due to the lack of adequate rainfall this year has further reinforced the realization that the performance of the agricultural sector in India is still largely dependent on the monsoons. This dependence is due to the neglect of the agricultural sector and lack of investment in rural infrastructure to raise productivity levels and to improve the living conditions of large sections of rural population. The neo-liberal policies implemented aggressively by the Indian state since the 1990s have led to agrarian crisis manifested in increasing economic and social tensions. Deflationary policies of the 1990s combined with exposure to international trade have proved to be a deadly mix for the majority of farmers. The crisis in the agricultural sector is evident with increasing numbers of suicides by farmers and other evidence of poverty and destitution. Studies have indicated that indebtedness and poverty has led several farmers in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra to commit suicide because farming does not bring adequate returns to meet the costs of inputs and subsistence.   The economic survey for the current year starts with the assertion that the ‘performance of the agricultural sector influences the growth of the Indian economy.’ It further states that the share of the agricultural sector in the total gross domestic product has declined to 17.8 per cent over the years though 52 per cent of the population is employed in this sector. In the year 2008-09, agricultural growth has decelerated to 1.6 per cent. The deceleration in growth rate in the agricultural sector since the 1990s has been pointed out by several scholars. The neo-liberal policies of the 1990s have led to the neglect of the agricultural sector, loss of employment and dismantling of the universal public distribution of foodgrains. The government statements in recent years in recognition of the ongoing crisis in the economy have, however, not led to policies which would mitigate the distress of small and medium farmers as producers and of the rural and urban poor as the net buyers of foodgrains. The mismanagement of the food economy and dismantling of the universal public distribution system by the successive governments have led to a decline in average calorie intake by a large segment of the Indian population. The National Family Health Survey reports of the Government of India, the Global Hunger Index and the State of the World’s Children have pointed out the abysmal levels ...