With the monsoon playing truant, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday tried to alleviate the suffering of farmers by announcing new floor prices for major kharif crops. The hike in minimum support price (MSP) announced ranged from 1 per cent to 9 per cent.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who briefed the media along with Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar, about the Cabinet decisions, said the Centre is concerned about the delay in the arrival of monsoon and its coverage and is already holding discussions with the State governments on various remedial measures to be taken.

While the floor price of common paddy would go up by ₹65 to ₹1,815 per quintal as per the hike announced on Wednesday, the MSP of soyabean has been increased to ₹3,710 per quintal from last year’s ₹3,399.

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MSP for Kharif crops

 

Among other crops whose floor prices have seen substantial increase are sunflower — up ₹262 to ₹5,650 per quintal; ragi — up ₹253 to ₹3,150 per quintal; and sesamum — up ₹236 to ₹6,485 per quintal.

However, the MSP of pulses has been raised only marginally: the MSP of moong was hiked by ₹75 to ₹7,050 per quintal, urad by ₹100 (₹5,700 quintal) and tur by ₹125 to ₹5,800 per quintal.

The MSP of cotton too has gone up marginally: while cotton (medium staple) would now command a floor price of ₹5,255, an increase of ₹105, better quality cotton (long staple) would get a floor price of ₹5,550, which is ₹100 more than in the previous year.

The Cabinet also increased the MSP of bajra, maize and jowar by ₹50, ₹60 and ₹120 to ₹2,000, ₹1,760 and ₹2,550 per quintal, respectively. The MSP of groundnut is hiked by ₹200 to ₹5,090 per quintal.

Tomar said the increase in MSP rates would not only assure remunerative prices to farmers, but would also help increase investment in agriculture and thereby, production. While the MSP of all crops are more than 50 per cent of the production cost, farmers would get the highest percentage of return on bajra (85 per cent), followed by urad (64 per cent) and tur (60 per cent), he said.

‘Govt should buy enough’

“While the increase in MSP rates announced for various crops are nominal, there is not much to criticise. But what is more important is to make sure the government buys grains in sufficient quantities on time so that market prices do not fall below the MSP rates,” said Avik Saha, national convenor of Jai Kisan Andolan.

There is also an urgent need for the government to extend sufficient funding to the Food Corporation of India, whose debts have mounted to more than ₹1 lakh crore, Saha said.

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