Wicked Policy Problems: Price Interventions in Agriculture

The case highlights the wicked problem of policy interventions in agriculture. Wicked problems are not evil problems but are named so because of the challenges in finding solutions occurred due to their interconnected nature, evolving circumstances and competing stakeholders. Wicked problems are often ill-defined, and stakeholders disagree on the nature and the scope of the problem. Emphasizing this, against the backdrop of the farmer protests in India in 2025, the case juxtaposes two sets of characters who are poles apart, farmers from the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab, and students at an Indian business school. To emphasize this, against the backdrop of the recent farmer protests in India, the case begins by talking about two protagonists, who are poles apart – a farmer in the state of Madhya Pradesh and students at an Indian business school. Neither seem to have a clarity on what the policy of Minimum Support Price (MSP) in agriculture entails. The case goes on to elaborate on the history of MSP and the current calculation of MSP by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) for 23 crops in India.