The Center has increased the minimum support price (MSP) for wheat for the upcoming rabi season to ₹2,015 per quintal, up 2% from last year’s rate of ₹1,975 per quintal.
oilseeds and pulses such as mustard, safflower and Masur lentils According to a statement on the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday, an increase of up to 8% was seen in the MSP to encourage crop diversification.
MSP is the rate at which the government buys crops from farmers. Currently, rates have been fixed for 23 crops, including six crops, during the upcoming rabi or winter season whose sowing will begin in October.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet that the government has taken another big decision in the interest of farmers by increasing the MSP of Rabi crops. He said that the increased MSP would ensure remunerative price to the farmers and they would also be encouraged to take up sowing operations.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that Wednesday’s decision is proof that the government is committed to the MSP system. “Some people who are spreading the illusion that MSP will be abolished should also learn from this decision. After the passage of new agricultural reform laws, not only has the rates of MSP increased, but there has also been a steady increase in procurement by the government,” he said in a statement.
According to the Centre, the cost of production of wheat for the upcoming marketing season of 2022-23 is ₹1,008 per quintal, which means the new MSP of ₹2,015 will result in 100% returns. Rapeseed and mustard farmers, who saw an increase in MSP by 8.6%, or ₹400 per quintal, can expect 100% returns even at ₹5,050 per quintal. Masur lentils also saw an increase of ₹400 per quintal, which means the MSP for lentils will be 7.8% higher than last year, with 79% return on cost of production. Gram Or gram saw an increase of 2.5% in MSP, resulting in 74% returns.
Shri Tomar said that the government has decided to fix the MSP of all Kharif and Rabi crops at least 1.5 times above their cost of production and this has helped in increasing the income of the farmers.
He said that apart from wheat and paddy, farmers are also benefiting from the Centre’s decision to procure pulses and oilseeds. “The expected return to farmers on their cost of production is estimated to be highest in the case of wheat and mustard (100% each), followed by pulses (79%), gram (74%); barley (60%) and safflower (50%),” said an official statement.
The government also said that concerted efforts were made in the last few years to realign the MSP in favor of oilseeds, pulses and coarse cereals so as to encourage farmers to shift to larger area under these crops and Best techniques and farming practices can be adopted to meet the demand. Supply imbalance.
Farm unions under the United Kisan Morcha reported that the rate of inflation is higher than the MSP increase for most crops, arguing that the MSP for wheat has, in fact, fallen by 4%. They are now in their tenth month of protesting against three agrarian reform laws, which they claim will harm the MSP regime, and have also demanded a legal guarantee for the MSP.
RSS-affiliated agriculture union Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), which on Wednesday organized a nationwide agitation, welcomed the MSP hike, but pointed out that most farmers will not get the benefit as they are still unable to sell their crops at that rate.
“We welcome this effort to diversify crops and encourage pulses and oilseeds such as Lentil And Mustard (Mustard). The water and labor cost for these crops is less, and since the MSP has increased, the profits for the farmers should be higher,” said BKS general secretary Badrinarayan Choudhary. “
Our protest remains because the government does not procure crops from all farmers. We still want a law that guarantees remunerative prices for all,” he said.
(with PTI inputs)
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