The food bowl of the country — Haryana and Punjab — has practically revolted against the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of paddy and other crops announced by the Central Government.
A day after Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal made his displeasure known, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda too joined him and urged the Centre to either increase the MSP of paddy, maize, bajra and cotton or announce a bonus of an equal amount “in the larger interest of the farming community.” He said the cost of cultivation of these crops has increased considerably.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Chief Minister urged him to increase the MSP of paddy by at least Rs 200 per quintal, of maize by Rs 150 per quintal and that of bajra and cotton by Rs 100 per quintal so that the farmers get remunerative prices for their produce.
The Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a hike of Rs 60 and Rs 100 in the MSP of paddy and cotton for the current kharif marketing season on Thursday.
Drawing the attention of the Prime Minister towards the meagre increase made in the MSP of paddy by the Government of India, Hooda said, “The Government of India has enhanced the MSP of paddy by Rs 60 per quintal over the last year’s MSP and fixed it at Rs 1,310 per quintal and made an increase of 65 per quintal for Grade A at Rs 1,345 per quintal for kharif marketing season 2013-14. The MSP announced is not adequate to cover even the cost of cultivation of paddy.”
Hooda said that the cost of cultivation of paddy in Haryana is Rs 1,757 per quintal and the State had recommended to the Government of India to fix Rs 1,850, Rs 1,925 and Rs 2,000 per quintal for common, fine and super-fine categories. This meagre increase is highly inadequate and will discourage the farming community.
The Haryana Chief Minister said that bajra is an important crop grown in Haryana both as grain and fodder, which is generally grown in rain-fed areas where the economic condition of the farmers continues to be precarious. The MSP announced by the Government of India at Rs 1,250 per quintal will not even cover the cost of cultivation. The cost of cultivation of bajra in our State is Rs 1,315 per quintal and the State Government had recommended its price as Rs 1,400 per quintal.
Hooda said that though maize is an important cereal and fodder crop, yet its area and production have steadily decreased due to poor MSP.
The MSP which has been announced by the Government of India for maize at Rs 1,310 per quintal will not encourage the farmers to diversify from paddy and sugarcane crops to maize crop. The cost of cultivation of maize in our State is Rs 1,654 per quintal and the State Government had recommended Rs 1,800 per quintal as MSP for maize, he added.
He said that likewise, cotton which is grown in an area of about six lakh hectares, its MSP should be fixed at least Rs 4,200 per quintal whereas the Government of India has announced only Rs 3,700 per quintal for medium staple cotton. The cost of cultivation of cotton itself comes to Rs 3,783 per quintal, added Hooda.
Earlier, Badal described the meagre hike as "a retrograde step to rob the farmers of genuine margins of profit thereby making the plight of already distressed farmers from bad to worst".
Taking a dig at the Centre, Badal accused the UPA Government of doublespeak because at one instance it was forcing Punjab to go for crop diversification in a big way and on the other it was deliberately denying the farmers of their justified right of remunerative MSP on the alternative crops like cotton, maize and basmati.
Badal said, "The Centre should have at least repaid a bit of the debt owed towards it due to immense contribution of Punjab farmers in making our country self-sufficient in food production by conceding our rightful demand through fixing the MSP of these crops in accordance with the rationale based on the facts compiled by a team of agricultural experts and economists of the Punjab Agricultural University."