Warning that India's farm subsidy had mounted to 5.6 per cent of agriculture GDP, the World Bank on Wednesday said the country should instead be investing more in rural education, social and infrastructure development.

"The agriculture subsidies given by the Government of India benefits affluent farmers and not the poor among them," World Bank's agriculture and rural development director Kevin Cleaver said in New Delhi.

He said India's fiscal deficit is high and the resources that can be used for poverty alleviation and bringing gender equity are limited.

Besides addressing global concerns of world trade, climate change and industrial subsidies, India, as also other developing countries, must direct its energies on expanding farm productivity and increasing competition, Cleaver said.

He said developing countries needed to bring about institutional reforms and take steps for capacity building in rural areas.

World Bank country director Michael Carter said India should adopt technologies and policies that should have wider impact in the country than just localised impact.

He said public expenditure should be utilised primarily towards sustainable rural development, electrification of villages and providing health facilities and drinking water.

Cleaver called for better public-private alliance so that the farmers could get more organised to lobby harder as do their American counterparts and receive better marketing and infrastructure facilities along with greater penetration in domestic and international markets.