‘New laws can boost farmers' income’

India's recently-enacted agri laws have the potential to increase farmers' income, but there is a need to provide a social safety net to the vulnerable cultivators, IMF's Chief Economist Gita Gopinath has said.

Indian agriculture is in need of reforms, she said. There are multiple areas where the reforms are needed, including infrastructure, the Chief Economist of the Washington-based global financial institution said on Tuesday.

The three agri laws, enacted in September last year, have been projected by the Indian government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the countr y.

Gopinath said: "These particular farm laws were in the area of marketing. It was widening the market for farmers. Being able to sell to multiple outlets besides the Mandis without having to pay a tax. And this had the potential to raise, in our view, farmers' incomes".