MSP hike ‘historic’, says Radha Mohan Singh

MOTIHARI: Union agriculture and farmers welfare minister Radha Mohan Singh on Thursday termed the decision of the Centre to increase the minimum support price (MSP) for several kharif crops as “historic”. “The Centre has fulfilled the budgetary promise of providing MSP that would be 1.5 times that of production cost,” the minister told this newspaper over the phone.
Singh said the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre was committed to doubling the farmers’ income by 2022.“The emphasis is on enhancing productivity, reducing cost of cultivation and strengthening post-harvest management. The enactment of Model Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing Act, 2017 and Model Contract Farming and Services Act, 2018 will go a long way in bringing reforms to the agriculture sector,” the minister said.
He added the government was working on a new market architecture so as to ensure that farmers get remunerative prices on their produces. “The steps include setting up of Gramin Agricultural Markets to promote 22,000 retail markets,” the minister added.
He said the increase in MSPs for niger seed (Rs 1,827 per quintal), moong (Rs 1,400 per quintal), sunflower (Rs 1,288 per quintal) and cotton (Rs 1,130 per quintal) ws “unprecedented”. “The Food Corporation of India and other designated state agencies will continue to provide price support to the farmers,” he said.
“The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited, FCI, Small Farmers Agri-Business Consortium and other designated central agencies will continue to undertake procurement of pulses and oilseeds. Cotton Corporation of India will be the central nodal agency for undertaking price support operations for cotton,” the minister added.