Hry famers unhappy, say raise below expectations
KARNAL : Though BJP leaders in Haryana are praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the “unprecedented hike” in the minimum support prices (MSPS) of 14 kharif crops for 2018-19, farmer leaders and growers termed the hike below the expectations.
Even the paddy growers are not happy with the Rs 200 hike in the MSP of common varieties, which has now been raised to Rs 1,750 per quintal.
They said the formula adopted to calculate the input costs was wrong and the MSP should be increased to around Rs 2,100 if the government wants to fix it at 50% more than the cost of production.
Gurnam Singh Chaduni, state president of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), termed the hike as meager, saying the government did not adopt the formula recommended by agriculture experts to calculate the input costs. The formula used by the government does not cover the entire input costs, including the rent of the land and interest of farmers’ loan.
He also pointed out that the maximum increase has been announced in MSPS of crops like cotton, cereals, sunflower seeds, maize, bajra and ragi, which were not procured by government agencies in the state.
Farmers said paddy is the only largely grown crop in Haryana and farmers had big expectations as PM Modi had announced that the entire input costs will be included to fix the MSP. But they alleged that the Rs 200 hike was a joke with the farmers.
“The government has fixed the
The maximum increase has been announced in MSPS of crops like cotton, cereals, , maize, bajra and ragi, which are not procured by government agencies. GURNAM SINGH CHADUNI, Haryana BKU chief
MSP for about 14 Kharif crops but they do not purchase all these crops in mandis and there is a need for some mechanism so that farmers could be benefitted with th hiked MSP,” said Satyawan, a farmer from Gohana of Sonepat district. “As the government agencies do not procure cotton, bajra, sunflower and maize, farmers are being forced to sell their produce to private traders far below the MSP,” he said. The farmers are demanding that the government procure all crops on MSP in all grain markets.
Banarsi Das, a paddy grower from Indri of Karnal, said, “The government has again ditched the farmers by not increasing the MSP as per their expectations. Most of the farmers have sown common variety of paddy following assurances of PM Modi, but Rs 200 hike will not even cover the input costs.”
NOWHERE NEAR PM’S PROMISES: HOODA
Talking to HT, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said, “The increased MSP was nowhere near the promises made by the PM. Even Rs 200 hike in paddy MSP is a cruel joke with the farmers, who were expecting better prices this year as PM had promised to increase it to 50% more than the production cost”.
He added, “The government should have considered all expenses to calculate input costs as per the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission. The input costs got double during the BJP regime, thanks to the increase in diesel and fertiliser prices and GST on pesticides.”