NEW DELHI: Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday underlined the need to blend subsidy with investment to enhance farm sector growth in the country, arguing that the model which sustains indefinitely only on subsidy will not be a sustainable model.“Investments will make farm sector self-sufficient on ground. With much lesser subsidies, a self-sufficient farmer may be able to serve the cause of Indian agriculture much better,” Jaitley said after releasing a book, titled Supporting Indian Farms the Smart Way, written by Agri Economist Ashok Gulati and two others.The book too pitches for urgent need to increase investments in agriculture ( infrastructure and R&D) and contain input subsidies for faster alleviation of poverty and boosting farm growth. It analyses 35-year trend (1980-2015), showing that the public investments in agriculture as percentage of agri GDP has declined from 3.9% in 1980 to 2.2% in 2014-15, while input subsidies during the period increased from 2.8% to 8%.“I do see a point on blending the subsidy support with the investment because, to have a model which sustains indefinitely only on subsidy will not be a sustainable model,” said the finance minister who released the book through video-conference.He said important areas which require investment include physical infrastructure, social sector and farm sector.Experts on the occasion argued in favour of shifting from price policy (supplying inputs at subsidised prices) to income policy so that farmers reap the benefits of record production of foodgrains in the country.They noted that the way minimum support price (MSP) regime has worked in the country and the way trade policy has intervened through controls (ranging from minimum export prices to outright bans on exports), the farmers could not realise better price of their produce and the focus has invariably been shifted towards containing the price for benefits of consumers.Recommending shift from price policy to income policy to improve conditions of farmers, the book shares results of modelling exercise and notes that the number of people brought out of poverty by spending per million rupees on agricultural research and expenditure is much higher compared to if the same money is spent on different subsidies.Besides favouring higher public investment in farm sector, the book comes out with various other recommendations including switching to direct cash (fertiliser subsidy) transfers to farmers, learning from international best practices to increase water use efficiency, avoid generalised farm waiver and faster settlement of insurance claims.Noting that all the changes cannot happen in one go, author of the book and Infosys chair professor at the farm think-tank ICRIER, Ashok Gulati, said, “The revival of Indian agriculture calls for prioritising investments, rationalising and converting subsidies into direct income transfers and investment in changing requirements of the modern agriculture, especially agriculture R&D.”