‘Govt is committed to honouring MSPs’
The Modi government has announced a series of steps to alleviate farm distress, promising profitable prices for farmers after a wave of protests in many states. The agrarian crisis could affect the electoral prospects of the BJP in several states where it is in power, despite farm loan waivers. In an interview with Zia Haq, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh listed the government’s plan to address the issue. Excerpts:
Farmers have demanded a comprehensive measure of costs called ‘C2’ to calculate 50% profits promised in the Budget. What measure of costs will the government settle on?
The government will set MSP at 1.5 times the cost of production, so that there is minimum of 50% profit over cost of production based on the prevailing method used by the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices. By this, all the paid out costs of the farmers, both in cash and kind will come to be taken into account.
Imputed value of the family labour will be accounted for. The CACP is free to recommend profit margin even beyond the threshold level of 50%, as it deems appropriate. With a minimum of 50%, all notified crops will stand to benefit. In particular, millets and oilseeds will benefit, bringing advantage to rainfed farmers. The National Farmers’ Commission too had suggested 50% margin on the cost of cultivation.
Unless there’s actual procurement or buying of produce by the government, MSPs are at best notional.
The government is commithonouring ted to the notified MSPs. In the earlier years, governments have only notiMSPs, fied the without proback viding for a up procurein ment except a few cases like wheat and paddy. Our government has been focusprocurement ing on of multisuch rops as pulses, oiland ds cotton as seen he last 2-3 years. It orth mentioning t procurement of lses, oilseeds and tton during years 14-18 has regised an increase of % in quantity, ich is worth 417% es more in terms alue as against 1-14.
e budget has omised a mecham to ensure farms will be compensed for market loss. What mechanism you zeroing in on?
The Niti Aayog and ministry of agriculture will be working on various procurement interventions. There are two, three models being studied. Essentially the broad policy will be that if prices fall below MSP, there will definitely be government intervention to ensure farmers are compensated adequately in accordance with the notified MSP.
Various alternatives, including that adopted by
MP, will be examined for this purpose. Niti Aayog and ministry of agriculture are jointly holding a meeting in March first week with all the states to discuss alternatives. I have written to all the chief ministers in this regard. We need the states to partner with us in this initiative to support the farmers, in monetizing their produce suitably. However, our primary aim is to create an efficient market structure in the country, such that farmers get remunerative prices which are above MSP. MSP based procurement should be seen as a fall back mechanism, whereby, the farmers are sure of getting at least MSP for their produce, particularly when markets fail.
NEWDELHI:
MSPs are announced for only 23 crops. Farmers grow many crops for which MSPs aren’t even fixed. For example, vegetables. What about them?
In case of crops for which MSPs are not notified and if such produce forms more than 10% of a state’s agricultural output in the previous year and if prices in the market fall below a certain level, then Government shall intervene through ‘Market Intervention Scheme’ (MIS). Our Government has by amending the Guidelines raised the limit of procurement to 20% of the state’s annual estimated production from the earlier limit of 10%.