The Hindu Business Line : Govt to seek PM's help on MSP for paddy

The figures
During the kharif season, paddy was cultivated in 22.17 lakh hectares, while it was 13.15 lakh hectares in rabi.
This had resulted in steady hike in paddy production that had touched record level of 140 lakh tonnes in 2006-07.

Hyderabad May 20 The Andhra Pradesh Government has decided to request the Centre to enhance the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy by Rs 100 per quintal for the season like the recent support announced for wheat while extending the duration of paddy procurement.

The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, will address a letter to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Monday seeking his support to hike the MSP mainly to offset the increased labour charges and input costs during the season. The Government had already urged the Centre to extend the duration of procurement of paddy for some more time.

According to a statement from the Chief Minister's Office, before proceeding on a tour of Guntur district to participate in Rythu Chaitanya yatras, Dr Reddy held a review meeting with the State Agriculture Minister, Mr N. Raghuveera Reddy and officials of the department.

Dr Reddy stated that the Centre had recently announced enhancement of Rs 100 per quintal for wheat, which had given a lot of relief for the farmers in the North and similar support to paddy would be timely for paddy cultivators.

During the kharif season, paddy was cultivated in 22.17 lakh hectares, while it was 13.15 lakh hectares in rabi. This had resulted in steady hike in paddy production that had touched record level of 140 lakh tonnes in 2006-07. Andhra Pradesh had become the granary of South due to wide spread paddy cultivation.

The Chief Minister said the Government had taken several initiatives to provide better marketing opportunities for farm output. In fact, last year, he recalled that the Government had paid Rs 40 as bonus to every paddy grower wherein the Centre had fixed Rs 580 per quintal for the common variety.

In addition, the Government paid another Rs 40 as bonus. For the Grade `A' variety, procurement was at Rs 610 per quintal.