Centre to procure 17.8% more rice in 2020-21

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar introduced two Bills, including one on contract farming, in the Lok Sabha to replace Ordinances promulgated earlier, amid opposition from the Congress and other parties. Introducing the Bills, Tomar assured the House that the system of Minimum Support Price would stay

Amid talks that Centre would curb MSP procurement after the passage of new farm Ordinances, the government on Monday said it planned to procure 17.8 per cent more rice in 2020-21 season estimated at 49.53 million tonnes (mt). This will be at the 2020-21 MSP of ~1,868/quintal for common paddy and ~1,888/quintal for Grade A, which is ~53 more than FY20. In FY20, Centre procured a record 42.02 mt of rice.