MSP Is There And Increasing, Says Government; All 'Jumla', Say Protesting Farmers' Groups

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the decision on Wednesday to hike the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy, pulses, coarse cereals and oilseeds.

The central government increased the MSP for common paddy to Rs 1,940 a quintal for the coming kharif season, around 4 per cent higher than last year’s price of Rs 1,868, reports The Hindu.

The MSP for both toor and urad dal was increased by Rs 300, a 5 per cent increase to Rs 6,300 a quintal. In the case of moong the MSP increase has been 1.10 per cent — from 7,196 per quintal to Rs 7,275 quintal.

Sesamum saw the highest absolute increase — a 6.6 per cent rise to Rs 7,307. Groundnut and nigerseed saw an increase of Rs 275 and Rs 235 respectively. The groundnut MSP has been increased by 5.21 per cent –from Rs 5,575 per quintal to Rs 5,550 per quintal.

Maize saw a hike of just Rs 20 to Rs 1,870 a quintal.

The MSP for yellow soyabean has been hiked 1.80 per cent, up from Rs 3,880 per quintal to Rs 3,950 per quintal.

The MSPs of sunflower seed and ragi have been increased by 2.21 per cent and 2.49 per cent, respectively. The bajra MSP has been increased 4.65 per cent — from Rs 2,150 per quintal to Rs 2,250 per quintal.

The cotton (medium staple) MSP has been raised 3.8 per cent.

The government stated that it has offered slightly higher increases in the MSP for pulses, oilseeds and coarse cereals to encourage crop diversification.

The official statement further stated:

“The increase in MSP for Kharif Crops for marketing season 2021-22 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 All-India weighted average Cost of Production (CoP), aiming at reasonably fair remuneration for the farmers.”

“The expected returns to farmers over their cost of production are estimated to be highest in case of bajra (85 per cent) followed by urad (65 per cent) and tur (62per cent). For rest of the crops, return to farmers over their cost of production is estimated to be at least 50 per cent.”

Farmer Protests

The announcement comes amidst the ongoing protests by farmer unions against the the three farm reform laws. The protests have continued for more than six months on Delhi’s borders.

The protesters called the MSP hike announcement a “jumla” (false promise). Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) alleged that some increases in the MSP, like for maize, did not even caught up with the inflation.

“There is no mechanism that guarantees that every farmer can get at least the MSP as the floor price in the market. Therefore, this is a meaningless concept as far as farmers are concerned, and that is why this movement has been asking for a statutory entitlement for all farmers so that a remunerative MSP can be ensured for all farmers,” the SKM was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

Agriculture Minister Tomar, in response, said:

“When the (agriculture) reforms were taken up, there were many apprehensions about MSP. I had said in the House, Honourable Prime Minister had also assured the country that MSP is there and MSP will continue. Accordingly, MSP for rabi and kharif have been declared continuously. So, there is no need for anyone to have any apprehension. MSP is there, MSP is increasing. Procurement on MSP is also increasing.”