Punjab government on Monday cleared a proposal asking the Government of India to make upward revision in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of various crops for Kharif in 2014-15 over the corresponding MSP during 2013-14.
A spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that the state agriculture department forwarded a detailed proposal to the Commission for Agriculture Costs & Prices (CACP) for seeking hike in the MSP of the Common Variety of Paddy from Rs 1,310 in 2013-14 to Rs 1,800 per quintal in 2014-15. likewise, the agriculture department also sought an upward revision in the MSP of Paddy grade ‘A’ variety from Rs 1,345 to Rs 1,890 per quintal.
Clearing the proposal, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal demanded the MSP of Maize to be hiked from Rs 1,310 to Rs 1,815 per quintal and Cotton from Rs 3,700-Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,300 per quintal in the proposal forwarded to CACP. Similarly, the proposal stipulated an increase in the MSP of moong from Rs 4,500 to Rs 6,100 per quintal, maha and arhar from Rs 4,300 to Rs 5,900 and Rs 5,800 respectively. Apart from this, the Chief Minister also envisaged an increase in the MSP of Groundnut from Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,200 per quintal.
Badal said that the hike in the MSP of these crops during the Kharif 2014-15 was necessitated to boost the crop diversification plan especially for the promotion of crops like maize, cotton, moong, maha, arhar and groundnut in the State. This move would not only benefit the State’s peasantry substantially but also help the state to arrest the trend of declining groundwater. The State Government under its ambitious agriculture diversification program had already planned to reduce the area under paddy cultivation from 28 lakh hectares to 12 lakh hectares over a period of five years.