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especially in India, have changed. Non-tariff barriers, rather than tariff barriers,
were hindering intra-regional trade. The lack of variation in comparative advantage
and poor infrastructure along with supply-side barriers due to lower productivity
levels are the major reasons for relatively lower trade within and outside the region
(Nanda 2012 ).
4.4 Policy Needs
Despite some progress, poverty, food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition continue
to be major development goals of the economies of South Asia. Countries in the
region should plan and implement strategies that optimize the resources and efforts
in a coherent and efficient manner so that the desired progress is achieved. Within
agriculture, much of cropping remains rainfed, except in Pakistan, so investing in
enhancing productivity and profitability of rainfed agriculture is needed. Some
threats facing the region are land degradation, rising input costs, climate change and
higher dependence on agriculture for livelihoods. Despite broad similarities within
the agricultural frame work, considerable diversity exists between of these South
Asian countries. Hence should be adequately recognized by agricultural policy
makers to devise policies and interventions for technology generation and transfer
in dryland agriculture. Public investment in agricultural research needs to be
increased, especially in natural resource management, without which the potential
of genetic enhancement and other productivity enhancing technologies cannot be
realized. Enhancing the use efficiency of inputs such as water and fertilizer nutrients
should attract the attention of researchers and policymakers. Other areas that need
attention are land reform and market infrastructure. The former will positively affect
the investment decisions of farmers, and the latter will help farmers to obtain better
prices for their products. Investments in road and communication infrastructure and
processing facilities are needed. Only then, will farmers in South Asia be able to
take advantage of expanding global trade. Such investments are needed to encour-
age diversification towards high-value commodities, which have been identified as
a source of income growth in these countries (Joshi et al. 2003 ). Diversification is
more common in regions with less irrigation, but all countries should have
regionally- differentiated approaches to technology generation and transfer, with
policies and programs flexible enough to accommodate location-specific
requirements.
The pursuance of domestic policies for addressing location-specific issues within
these countries should be accompanied by better coordination in dealing with issues
that have cross-border relevance. At present, trade is hampered by a lack of stan-
dardization of procedures and protocols and by inadequacies in soft and hard infra-
structure in this regard. Information from research systems and policy making
should be shared between countries within the region. Arrangements for conserva-
tion and the use of diverse genetic resources in these countries should be strength-
ened further. The National Agricultural Research System of India is stronger than
C. Srinivasa Rao et al.