The Environmental Implications of Minimum Support Prices in India

India’s Green Revolution involved the widespread adoption of high-yielding crop varieties, chemical fertilizers, and irrigation technologies to rapidly increase food production and achieve self-sufficiency. The increasing production of agricultural crops driven by the Green Revolution also led to the implementation of Minimum Support Prices to protect farmer interests. India is an agrarian economy where agriculture supports the livelihoods of a significant portion of the population, hence, the reliance of farmers on the minimum support price has encouraged largescale overproduction of select crops. Thus, this review aims to identify and expound the key consequences on the environment when a minimum support price is implemented on certain crops. This will help policymakers and producers evaluate their current agricultural practices and continue with more sustainable and efficient approaches to production. The paper includes a detailed and thorough literature review that synthesises existing studies on environmental impacts due to agricultural supply-side policies. Logical economic theory will work in tandem with microeconomic diagrams to draw reasoned conclusions throughout the paper. This paper hypothesizes that Minimum Support Prices incentivise production practices that are detrimental to the environment. The hypothesis will be tested by analysing relevant datasets and incorporating qualitative insights gathered through interviews with farmers directly affected by the Minimum Support Price regime.