Govt hikes MSP for wheat by ₹110 per quintal

NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday increased the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat by ₹110 to ₹1,735 a quintal and of pulses by ₹200 per quintal to help boost the output of these crops and check prices, official sources said.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the MSPs of all rabi (winter-sown) crops for 2017-18.

MSP is the rate at which government buys grain from farmers. According to sources, the CCEA approved ₹110 per quintal hike in wheat MSP to ₹1,735 per quintal for the 2017-18 rabi crop, up from ₹1,625 per quintal last year.To encourage the cultivation of gram and masoor, their MSPs have been raised by ₹200 per quintal each to ₹4,200 and ₹4,150.

: Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday termed the increase in minimum support price (MSP) announced by the Centre “inadequate” and demanded a review in line with the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission.

In a statement here, the chief minister said the increase of ₹110 per quintal in the MSP of wheat and ₹200 per quintal in that of pulses would not help achieve the objective of boosting the output of these crops and checking prices.

The move would also not, in any way, provide much relief to the distressed farmers of the country who are reeling under huge debt burden and struggling to make both ends meet, he added.

The CM said if the Centre was serious about uplifting the agriculture sector and alleviating the woes of the farmers, it would need to go beyond such tokenism to announce far-reaching changes in the MSP and other welfare initiatives, including debt waiver, in the interest of the farming community.

The Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations on the MSP need to be implemented urgently, in toto, if the country’s agricultural system has to survive and prosper, Amarinder said.

Citing the Swaminathan Commission report, he said the only long-term solution to the crisis faced by the farming community lay in giving attractive remuneration to them through pricing and procurement based on total cost of production plus 50%, as recommended by the panel. HTC