The fertiliser industry in developing countries is facing challenge and uncertain future due to their commitments to the WTO. This is part ofthe reason that the developing countries are pushingfor reducing ofsubsidies given by the developed countries to their agriculture which is much bigger making the subsidies to agriculture becoming a contentious issue in the WTOnegotiations. Some ofthe subsidies are accepted in the WTO context whereas the others are not. In India the farm sector subsidies are given in the form of irrigation, electricity, fertilisers etc. Byfar thefertiliser andfood subsidies are the most significant amounting to about US$9.3 billion in 2004 (less than 0.5 percent ofGDP). Thus, whilefrom.the WTO point ofview, it is not necessary to reducefertiliser subsidy in India. However, because ofthe "WIOcommitments, quantitative restrictions in this sector had to be removed by the end ofMarch 2001 in India. Cheaper imports have been threatening the domestic industry specially the units that do not use gas as feedstock. In the short run domestic companies may enjoy the protection ofdifferential subsidy in some form or the other. But in the long run they will have to compete on a stand-alone basis. This paper examines the experience and impact offertiliser subsidy across various countries and shows that it is a common tool to promote farm production. But the evidence shows that the fertiliser subsidy tends . to benefit the rich farmers more than the poorfarmers. The study examines the different approaches used by the policymakers to reach the targetedfarmers. In this context the paper records the evidence from some countries where the fertiliser industry has come forward and complemented the policymakers ' efforts to meet this objective and in the process ensured their betterfuture.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.