The Hindu Business Line : ‘Hike paddy support price to Rs 18,000/t’

Hyderabad, April 30 The Consortium of Indian Farmers’ Associations (CIFA) has asked the Union Government to announce a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 18,000 a tonne for paddy for the upcoming kharif season.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, the CIFA said the price of paddy was ruling at $1,000 a tonne in global markets.

“In order to encourage farmers to grow more paddy for domestic consumption and also for exports, it is time to announce MSP,” Mr Chengal Reddy, Secretary-General of CIFA, said here in a press release.

“It is essential and imperative that remunerative MSP for paddy is fixed following the lines of the formula proposed by the National Commission on Farmers,” he said.

The price, according to him could be about Rs 18,00 a tonne (production cost of Rs 12,000 plus 50 per cent of the cost to make it remunerative).

“The time for kharif sowing is fast approaching. It is the right time to announce MSP in order to encourage more farmers to go for paddy,” he pointed out.

Simultaneously, the Government should make efforts to activate the dormant extension system to tell farmers how to increase their productivity by following better management techniques.

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