The new minimum support prices (MSPs) for kharif crops were announced by the Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, with a rise of up to 10.4%. The enhanced MSPs were rejected by Punjabi farmers, who referred to them as a “mere joke” and claimed they did not reflect the actual cost of produce. Critics claim that the government disregarded the methodology suggested by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices and failed to take a scientific approach.
On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs released updated minimum support prices (MSPs) for various kharif crops. Punjab farmers rejected the higher MSPs, calling them “peanuts” in the face of the acute economic crisis the state’s agricultural sector is currently experiencing.
The MSP for paddy (common) has increased by 143. whereas the MSP for Grade A paddy has increased by 163 and will now be purchased for 2,203 per quintal as opposed to 2,060 last year, from 2,040 to 2,183 per quintal.
Moong experienced the largest rate of growth in MSP, rising by 10.4% to $8,558 per quintal from $7,755 per quintal the year before.
The MSP for maize has gone up by 128 cents, going from 1,962 to 2,090 per quintal.This year, the Centre also noted that the cost of producing one quintal of paddy was $1,455, while the cost of producing one quintal of maize was $1,394.
BKU General Secretary (Dakaunda) Jagmohan Singh claimed that the Commission for Agricultural Costs’ methodology was completely disregarded and that the Commission used an outmoded approach to compute MSP. Pricing (CACP).According to him, the government should have taken a more strong stance because farmers in Haryana are already protesting the lack of government purchases and MSP for sunflower crops.
“The increase in MSP of 143 per quintal is probably intended to sway voters ahead of the general elections in 2024. While recommending prices for various crops, the Centre has not used a scientific methodology. Additionally, he claimed that the government had failed to deliver on its election pledge to grant MSP using the C2 formula (comprehensive cost and 50% profit).
The imputed cost of capital and the land rent are both factors in the C2 formula used to calculate the cost of cultivation, which provides farmers with a 50% return.
describing the increase in the cost of paddy and maize as a only joking, Santokh Singh Sandhu, secretary of the Kirti Kisan Union, claimed that it will do absolutely nothing to aid farmers because the actual situation is entirely different.According to him, farmers have been pleading with the government to use the Swaminathan commission’s criteria.
“The Centre greatly underestimated the production costs. Instead, he added, the government ought to have offered an MSP that included 50% more profit on top of the fundamental manufacturing expenses.
The Centre should have used a scientific approach and taken rising inflation into account when determining the MSP, according to Kesar Singh Bhangoo, a former professor of economics at Punjabi University, even though the C2 formula suggested in the Swaminathan Report is unfavourable in the current environment because of increasing cost of production every year.
