in Agricultural R&D: Implications for

Abstract: The role of higher R&D investments in pushing Indian agriculture on higher growth trajectory is being widely recognised, however, it is all the more important to set right priorities of R&D investments with improved efficiency to gear up the economy. This article seeks to examine the recent trends in government expenditures and private R&D investments for agriculture; along with sectoral and regional priorities. Our study clearly showed that the expenditure on agricultural research which grew with an impressive rate of 6 per cent during the 1980s, slowed down to 3 per cent since the 1990s seem to be a concern especially in view of increasingly capital intensive nature of agril R&D. Apart from government direct interventions, the role of private sector in many facets of agri-input services and agri-biotechnology has expanded. With a growing size of agri-biotech market in the country, private investments in R & D has expanded, though selectively; hence a revamping of the public research portfolio is called for to fill the research gaps. Given the right incentives and regulatory framework, the private sector can provide an effective and sustainable investments and innovations in input and output markets, and thereby contribute to the higher growth. Key words: Public-private investment, agricultural R&D, innovation incentives, agricultural biotechnology and sustainable investments. 1