The global economy has faced two serious but unconnected crises in quick succession during the past four years. The years 2007 and 2008 witnessed an unprecedented rise in food prices which forced the global community to pay more attention to the agricultural sector.
Agriculture in India is subject to variety of risks arising from rainfall aberrations, temperature fluctuations, hailstorms, cyclones, floods and climate change. These risks are exacerbated by price fluctuation, weak rural infrastructure, imperfect markets and lack of financial services including limited span and design of risk mitigation instruments such as credit and insurance.
