Contrary to the claims made by the government, recently-announced minimum support price (MSP) for rabi crops are not sufficient, said India's foremost farmers organisation in a statement on Saturday.

"The Minimum Support Price (MSP) of winter crops for the forthcoming Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) (2020-21) announced by the Narendra Modi-led BJP Government is insensitive, anti-peasant and a betrayal of its own promises. In times of an economic recession, increased costs of cultivation and falling incomes, the MSP announced is a mockery of farmers’ plight," said All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), a farmer organisation backed by the CPI-M.

It said the claims that increase in MSP was in line with the principle of fixing MSPs at a level of at least 1.5 times of the all India weighted average cost of production is a farce. This is because the government has altogether discarded the C2 costs (comprehensive cost) and stuck to A2+FL which are way below C2 costs.

A2+FL cover actual paid cost and also unpaid family labour.

"The weighted average C2 cost for wheat as per the State government projections provided by the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) is Rs. 1,848 a quintal. The Government is taking Rs. 923/Qtl as the cost of production, implying 50 per cent below the C2 costs projected by the State Governments and also about 36 per cent below CACP C2 projection of Rs. 1,425/Qtl," AIKS said. The same is true for other rabi crops as well, the farmers' group said.

Even these costs worked out by the CACP and State governments are far below the actual costs and do not account for the increase in prices of fertilisers, irrigation costs, labour costs and crop protection costs, the AIKS statement said.

Demanding that the BJP government should put an end to this farce and announce prices as per the C2+50% formula and also make provision for assured procurement, AIKS urged farmers to protest against the insensitive attitude of the government.

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