Assertion: The policy changes such as reduction in import duties on agricultural products and lifting of quantitative restrictions on the imports of agricultural products has adversly affected Indian farmers in the post 1991 reform period.

Reasoning: Indian farmers are now facing increased international competition.

Both Assertion (A) and reasoning (R) are correct and R is the correct explanation of A.

The correct answer is Option 1: Both Assertion (A) and reasoning (R) are correct and R is the correct explanation of A.

Assertion: The policy changes such as reduction in import duties on agricultural products and lifting of quantitative restrictions on the imports of agricultural products has adversly affected Indian farmers in the post 1991 reform period. This is true  because economic reforms opened Indian agriculture to foreign competition, which created difficulties for many Indian farmers.

Reasoning: Indian farmers are now facing increased international competition. This is also true because imported agricultural goods began competing with domestic products after liberalisation policies were introduced. 

Does R Explains A? Reduction in import duties and removal of quantitative restrictions allowed foreign agricultural products to enter Indian markets more freely. As a result, Indian farmers had to compete with international producers, which adversely affected many of them. Therefore, the Reason correctly explains the Assertion. The reason Indian farmers were "adversely affected" (A) is precisely because they were thrust into a high-pressure environment of "international competition" (R) without being fully equipped to handle it.

NCERT: "Agricultural sector in the post 1991 reform period has been experiencing a number of policy changes such as reduction in import duties on agricultural products, low minimum support price and lifting of quantitative restrictions on the imports of agricultural products. These have adversely affected Indian farmers as they now have to face increased international competition. "