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The government on Wednesday hiked the floor price of wheat by ₹105 per quintal to ₹1,840 and that of barley by ₹30 to ₹1,440 per quintal.
The Union Cabinet approved a marginal 2-6 per cent increase in the minimum support prices (MSP) of major rabi crops over the previous season.
While the MSP of wheat will go up by ₹105 to ₹1,840 from ₹1,735 per quintal in 2018-19, that of barley will increase by ₹30 to ₹1,440, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh told media after the meeting.
The Minister claimed that with the implementation of new MSP rates, farmers would get an additional return of ₹62,635 crore. In absolute terms, safflower was the only notified crop whose MSP received a respectable increase; its floor price went up by ₹845 to ₹4,945 per quintal. The MSP of masur and gram was hiked by ₹225 and ₹220 per quintal, respectively.
He, however, argued that the return over the cost of production would be the highest at 112.5 per cent for wheat, followed by mustard (90 per cent), masur (76.7 per cent) and gram (75 per cent). According to the Minister, it covered all paid-out costs, including input costs, hired human labour costs, and rent paid for leased in land and imputed value of family labour. However, different farmer organisations across the country have been demanding the comprehensive cost (C2), to be considered as the basis for calculating the floor price for various crops.
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