On the Relevance of Farm Prices D S Tyagi RECENT trends in empirical research have led some to conclude that "researchers have reached a point of sharply diminishing returns".1 While this observation may continue to be debated in the profession, a plausible explanation for the emergence of such feelings could be the shift in emphasis from methodology to results. The basics of empirical research, namely, the quality, i e, reliability, representativeness and suitability of the basic data and consistency of the economic point of view translated into equations both with common knowledge and economic logic, now seem to be at a discount. The trend is, collect some data from any source, feed these into a computer, get results adopting a sophisticated model and even if the results, obtained are prima facie funny do not waste time on checking the assumptions of the model, the quality of data, the suitability of tool and the consistency of results with basic economic logic but go ahead and give policy prescriptions. Recognising the damage such exercises are likely to do to economic policy decisionmaking or to the proper appraisal of policy decisions, their limitations need to be highlighted. This paper aims at illuminating the limitations of such exercises.