UNION CABINET ANNOUNCES MSP HIKE FOR RABI CROPS
NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Monday announced higher minimum support prices (MSPs) for a range of winter-sown or rabi crops, setting them at 50% over costs of cultivation, with sharper increases for oilseeds, which are scarce, than cereals.
The new MSPs were approved at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The new assured rates, announced a fortnight earlier than usual, come amid widespread protests by farmer groups against a set of agricultural laws, which farm unions allege will erode the MSP system.
For wheat, the main winter staple, the government has raised MSP by ₹40 to ₹2,015 rupees a quintal (100kg) and barley by ₹35 to ₹1,635 a quintal. That works out to an increase of 2% and 0.76% respectively.
The MSP on lentil (masur), rapeseed and mustard have been hiked by ₹400 a quintal each, while gram rates were hiked by ₹130 per quintal.
NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday hiked the minimum support price for wheat by ₹40 to ₹2,015 per quintal and for mustard seed by ₹400 to ₹5,050 per quintal for the current crop year in order to boost crop area as well as income of farmers.
The decision to increase the MSPs (minimum support prices) was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
MSP is the rate at which the government buys the grain from farmers. Currently, the government fixes MSPs for 23 crops grown in both kharif and rabi seasons.
Sowing of rabi (winter) crops begins from October immediately after the harvest of kharif (summer) crops. Wheat and mustard are major rabi crops.
According to a release, the CCEA has approved increase in MSPs for six rabi crops for the 2021-22 crop year (July-June) and 2022-23 marketing season.
Wheat MSP has been increased by ₹40 to ₹2,015 per quintal for this crop year from ₹1,975 per quintal in the 2020-21 crop year.
The cost of production of wheat is estimated at ₹1,008 per quintal, the release said.
The government has procured a record of over 43 million tonnes of wheat during 2021-22 rabi marketing season, as per official data.
The support price of barley has been hiked by ₹35 to ₹1,635 per quintal for the 2021-22 crop year from ₹1,600 per quintal in the previous year.
Among pulses, the MSP for gram has been increased by ₹130 to ₹5,230 per quintal from ₹5,100 per quintal while that for lentil (masur) has been hiked by ₹400 to v5,500 per quintal from ₹5,100 per quintal.
In the case of oilseeds, the government has increased the MSP for mustard seed by ₹400 to ₹5,050 per quintal for the 2021-22 crop year from ₹4,650 per quintal in the previous year.
The MSP for safflower has been raised by ₹114 to ₹5,441 per quintal from ₹5,327 per quintal.
“Government has increased the MSP of rabi crops for the 2022-23 rabi marketing season to ensure remunerative prices to the growers for their produce,” the release said.
The government said the hike in MSPs is in line with the Union Budget 2018-19 announcement of fixing the MSPs at a level of at least 1.5 times of the average cost of production. “The expected returns to farmers over their cost of production are estimated to be highest in case of wheat and mustard seed (100% each), followed by lentil (79%), gram (74%); barley (60%) and safflower (50%),” it added.