Paddy MSP raised by Rs 200quintal, coarse cereal farmers get big boost Among pulses, moong's MSP has been increased by Rs 1400 a quintal from Rs 5,575 a quintal to Rs 6,975 a quintal. The MSP of urad has risen from Rs 5,400 to Rs 5,600 a quintal
The Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs cleared on Wednesday an increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for kharif crops for the 2018-19 season. The price at which the government will buy common rice variety was increased by Rs 200 a quintal, about a 13 per cent hike over last year's Rs 1,550 per quintal.The MSPs of coarse cereals that include jowar, bajra and ragi have seen hefty increases of up to Rs 900 a quintal. The current MSP of ragi is Rs 1,900 a quintal. Among pulses, moong's has been increased by Rs 1400 a quintal --- from Rs 5,575 a quintal to Rs 6,975 a quintal.
The MSP of urad has risen from Rs 5,400 to Rs 5,600 a quintal. The MSP for tur has been raised by almost Rs 225 a quintal to Rs 5,675 a quintal. In most pulses, the increase has been less than the hike announced during the last kharif season. The reason for this is that in most pulses and oilseeds, the MSP is already more than 50 per cent over the A2+FL cost of production. While in the case of coarse cereals and cotton, the current MSPs were far less than the A2+FL cost of production.In jowar, the MSP has gone up by almost Rs 730 a quintal to Rs 2,430 a quintal. The MSP of medium staple cotton has risen by almost Rs 1,130 a quintal to Rs 5,150, while that of long staple variety has been raised to Rs 5,450 a quintal from the existing Rs 4,320 a quintal.Among oil seeds, MSPs of yellow soybean and groundnut in shells haven't seen a big increase as their support price was already close to 50 per cent over A2+FL cost.Experts fear that hiking MSP of cereal crops, particularly paddy, could have an impact on food inflation as the government is a big buyer of these products.But in case of coarse cereals, oil seeds and pulses, high inflation would kick in only if the government starts buying in huge quantities in the event of a price fall below the mandated MSP.The agriculture ministry has proposed an MSP higher than what has been recommended by the government advisory body, considering growing farm distress because of fall in prices of most crops owing to bumper production, sources said.In this year's general Budget, the government had announced that it would fix a support price of at least 1.5 times the cost of production. This was the ruling BJP's poll promise in the 2014 general elections. Normally, the MSP is announced just before the start of the sowing to help farmers choose the crop they want to sow. The sowing of kharif crops has begun with the onset of southwest monsoon and harvesting will start from October.
ARTICLE SOURCE- BUSINESS STANDARD.