CABINET HIKES WHEAT MSP BY ~105/QUINTAL

The government on Wednesday increased the minimum support price (MSP) for six winter sown or rabi crops by up to 21%, including a 6 % hike in the support price of wheat to ₹1,840 a quintal, for the 2018-19 season, in a move aimed at quelling the farmers’ protest and growing agrarian distress, a key political imperative ahead of elections in key states this year and the parliamentary polls next year.

Addressing mediapersons after a Cabinet meeting, Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the decision, which is part of the government’s effort to double farmer incomes by ensuring they get at least a 50% return over their cost of production, would help farmers earn an additional income of ₹62,635 crore.

The decision taken by the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) comes a day after a massive march of farmers to the national capital, seeking higher support prices and loan waivers (apart from, in the case of sugarcane, speedy payment of the money owed to them by sugar mills). Police had to resort to firing tear gas shells to halt the protest.

The farmers called off their protest march on Wednesday saying that the government had met most of their demands.

Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said the MSP for all rabi crops is higher than the cost of production by 50-112%.

The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs on Wednesday also decided to increase the MSP of barley by ₹30 per quintal to ₹1,440 per quintal and that of gram (chana) by ₹220 per quintal to ₹4,620 per quintal for the 2018-19 crop season.