Ask Centre to make MSP mandatory for rabi crops, farmers tell CACP
Farmer association leaders have asked the Committee on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) to recommend that the government make the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mandatory for spring crops. Although any such recommendation would not be binding on the government, it could put pressure on the center due to the general elections next year.
We have asked the committee to recommend an MSP for growers. “It is up to the CACP to accept our opinions,” said Rampal Jat, the president of the Kisan Mahapanchayat. He argued that the CACP should ensure farmers receive intensive marine planning and not avoid this problem by mentioning agriculture as a subject of the state.
On July 4, CACP held a discussion with representatives of farmer organizations to decide on the price policy report for the 2024-25 Rabi` al-Awwal (April-March) marketing season. The annual exercise is conducted by the Authority before making its recommendations on medium-sized projects for different crops.
Legumes and oilseeds
Wheat, chana, masoor (lentils) and mustard are the main spring crops, which will start sowing from October after harvesting the fall crop.
Jatt said that the Commission had been briefed by them on how to discriminate against farmers of oilseeds and legumes in the face of farmers of wheat and rice. Jat said that while the center buys maximum quantity of rice and wheat, the situation in other crops is very different and claimed that except for chana (gram), there are hardly any purchases even though Mandi prices are governed by lower than MSPs.
Some other farmer leaders have urged the CACP to reform MSPs based on the comprehensive (C2) cost of production and not on the current procedure for calculating them on A2 + family labor cost. The center decided in 2018 to fix medium-sized enterprises at a minimum of 50 percent above the cost of production, a long pending demand for farmers. However, there are some crops such as wheat where their average cost is more than twice as high.
Hike the MSPs
Last month, the Cabinet approved plans for medium production of 14 fall crops for the 2023-24 season (July-June) by increasing them in the range of 5-10 percent over the previous year. The rates were fixed with the aim of increasing farmers’ income as the guideline of 50 percent profit over cost was maintained.
The MSP of rice (a common variety), a major autumn grain, has been increased by 7 per cent to Rs 2,183 per quintal and the support price of the Grade A variety of rice has been increased by 6.9 per cent to Rs 2,203. rupees per quintal. Cotton (Medium) was raised by 8.9 per cent to Rs 6,620 and the basic variety by 10 per cent to Rs 7,020 per quintal.
MSP for soybeans was increased by 7 per cent to Rs 4,600 per quintal, while the subsidy price for sunflower seeds was raised by 5.6 per cent to Rs 6,760 per quintal and peanuts by 8.7 per cent to Rs 6,357 per quintal. .