1. Agriculture Sector of India

2.  India ranks second worldwide in farm output.
 Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry and fisheries play an important role to contribute GDP. 
The economic contribution of agriculture to India's GDP is steadily declining with the country's broad-based economic growth.
Still, agriculture is demographically the broadest economic sector and plays a significant role in the overall socio-economic fabric of India.

3. India is the world's largest producer of many fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, major spices, select fresh meats, fibrous crops.
India is the second largest producer of wheat and rice, the world's major food staples.
India is also the world's second or third largest producer of several dry fruits, agriculture-based textile raw materials, roots and tuber crops, pulses, farmed fish, eggs, coconut, sugarcane 
and numerous vegetables.
India ranked within the world's five largest producers of over 80% of agricultural produce items, including many cash crops such as coffee and cotton.
India is also one of the world's five largest producers of livestock and poultry meat, with one of the fastest growth rates, as of 2011.

4. WTO & Agriculture
The only international organization set up as a permanent body .
Aim :- To deal with the rules of trade between nations.
Was set up on I January 1995.
Headquarter in Geneva, Switzerland.

5. India is one of the founder members of WTO by ratifying the WTO agreement on 30th Dec 1994.
The Agreement (On Agriculture) has the following clauses :
1. Reduction of domestic subsidies.
2. Reduction in export subsidies.
3. Tariff reduction.
4. Bindings to provide market access.
The present membership of WTO is 157 countries.

6. Organizational Structure of WTO
Highest decision making body is the Ministerial Conference
Ministerial Conference has to meet at least once every two years.
Ministerial Conference take decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements
Since 1995, seven Ministerial conferences have been held.
Singapore (9-13 Dec 1996)
Geneva (18-20 May, 1998)

7. Seattle (30 November -3 December 1999) (Washington)
Doha (9-14 November 2001)
Cancun (10-14 September 2003) (Mexico)
Hongkong (13-18 December 2005)
Geneva (30th Nov-3Dec 2009)

8. Implications of WTO Benefits from expansion in trade
Benefits from phasing out of the MFA (Multi-Fibre Agreement) (Textile & Clothing Products).
Improved prospects for agricultural exports.
Benefits from multilateral rules and disciplines.
The agreement allows unlimited support to activities such as (i) Research, Pest diseases control , training, extension, and advisory services. (ii) Public stock holding for food security purpose. (iii) Income insurance and food needs, relief from natural disasters and payments under the environmental assistance programmes.

9. Benefits from expansion in trade
The Uruguay round has projected the largest increases in the areas of clothing, agriculture, forestry and fishery products and processed food and beverages.
Since India’s competitiveness lies in these product groups, India will obtain large gains in these sectors.

10. Benefits from phasing out of the MFA (Multi –Fibre Arrangement)
Multi-Fibre Agreement will benefit India as the exports of textiles and clothings will increase considerably.
India’s export of these products will flood the US and European markets.

11. Improved Prospects for Agricultural exports
Exemption of all major programmes for the development of agriculture from the disciplines in the Agricultural Agreement.

12. Benefits from multilateral rules and disciplines
Countervailing measures (disciplines the use of subsidies, and it regulates the actions countries can take to counter the effects of subsidies.)
Safeguards and dispute settlement.
Ensures greater security and predictability of the international trading system
Creates a more favorable environment for India in the new world economic order.

13. Commodity
A product or material or any physical substance like food grains, processed products and agro-based products, metals or currencies, which investors can trade in the commodity market.

14. Commodity Market Markets where raw or primary products are exchanged.
These raw commodities are traded on regulated commodities exchanges, in which they are bought and sold in standardized contracts.
Most commodity market across the world trade in agricultural products and other raw materials (like wheat, sugar, maize, cotton, cocoa, coffee, milk products, oil, metals, etc.) and contracts based on them.

15. These contracts can include spot prices, forwards, futures and options on futures. Other sophisticated products may include interest rates, environmental instruments, swaps, or ocean freight contracts.
Commodities exchanges usually trade futures contracts on commodities, such as trading contracts to receive a particular commodity in physical form.

16. Investors also buy and sell the futures contracts at commodity exchanges to make a profit and provide liquidity to the system.
Well-established physical commodities are actively traded in spot and derivative commodity market.

17. Categories of Commodity Market
There are Two categories of Commodity market.
1. Wholesale Market
2. Retail Market.

18. In Wholesale Market, the wholesaler buy goods from the formers & manufactures and sell them to the retailers after adding a margin of profit.
In Retail market retailers sell the goods to the consumers.
The wholesalers act as middlemen, who did not add any value to the product but raised the price of product because the improvement in transport facilities the retailers directly made contact with the producers.

19. Importance of Commodity Market
It provides investment opportunity to speculators who are willing to assume risk for a possible return. They will have volumes, brokerage fees and something to trade.
The experience gained from this helps farmers in deciding which crops to grow.
It helps in building a competitive edge and enables farmers/businesses to smoothen their earnings.
Adequate and appropriate storage facilities will be established.