The minimum support price (MSP) has both improved and increased under the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The government in 2018 had increased the MSP at 1.5 times the production cost, which is the chief determinant of MSP after the recommendation of the National Commission of Farmers 2006. It implies that the guaranteed price to the farmers during normal times (good monsoon) or in times of price fluctuations and market uncertainties has further increased.
As a result of the hiked MSP and more procurement by the government, MSP payments to farmers have gone up in comparison for major crops (2009-14 and last five years).
MSP payment to the farmers for paddy has been increased by 2.4 times during the last five years in comparison to the period from 2009-10 to 2013-14 when the UPA was in power.
In the last five years, an MSP payment of Rs 4.95 lakh crore has been made as against Rs 2.06 lakh crore. Payment to the farmers for wheat has increased by 1.77 times during the period in comparison to the period from 2009-10 to 2013-14. MSP Payment of Rs 2.97 lakh crore has been made as against Rs 1.68 lakh crore during the last five years.
For pulses, the MSP payment to the farmers went up by 75 times during the last five years in comparison to the period from 2009-10 to 2013-14. MSP Payment of Rs 49,000 crore has been made as against Rs 645 crore in the last five years.
Payment to the farmers for Oilseeds and Copra has been increased by 10 times during the last five years in comparison to the period from 2009-10 to 2013-14. The MSP Payment of Rs 25,000 crore has been made against Rs 2,460 crore in the last five years.
Under the procurement in the Central pool, the procurement of wheat from farmers for Rabi 2020, by the government agencies has touched an all-time high record figure when total procurement for the Central pool reached 382 lakh metric tonnes (LMT).
All over India, 42 lakh farmers were paid Rs 73,500 crore, towards Minimum Support Price for wheat in the current Rabi season. This year Madhya Pradesh became the largest contributor to the Central pool with 129 LMT wheat, surpassing Punjab which procured 127 LMT. Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan also made significant contributions to the national procurement of wheat.
During the same period, 119 lakh MT paddy was also procured by the government agencies through 13,606 purchase centres.
Purchase centres for wheat and pulses and oilseeds saw an increase of 1.5 and 2.75 times respectively in 2020, facilitating the purchase from the farmers.
There was an increase of 59.2 per cent in the procurement of paddy in 2019 when compared to 2014-15.
There was an increase in the procurement from the eastern and northeastern regions this year, as opposed to earlier trends. In the Kharif season this year, procurement from these regions has been to the tune of 89.5 LMT benefitting more than 18 lakh farmers.
Source: dnaindia.com