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Assured MSP is the key

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15 Jan, 21 10:18
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Assured MSP is the key

LEGALISING the Minimum Support Price (MSP) recommended for all 23 crops by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) is the best way to boost the farmers’ income,. The uncertainty over assured payment on their crop yields is one of the major reasons for the ongoing farmers’ protests against the new farm laws. Assured MSP on all crops will give farmers freedom to grow other crops besides wheat and paddy. This choice will provide relief to the underground water reserves that have dwindled due to paddy plantation. Farm economist has been repeatedly saying that at the current rate of water usage, particularly for paddy, Punjab could go dry within 25 years. “Our groundwater level of India is falling at the rate of about 20- 25 cm each year and farmers don’t get an assured price on most of their crops. “Privatisation of agriculture has failed in the US, Canada, EuropeandChina.Indiaisnoexception; so,unless theground reality of farmers’ costs and returns is not made a part of the agriculture policy, the farming sector will not thrive.” Besides paddy and wheat, the CACP has also recommended MSP for cotton, chana, masur, mustard, sugarcane and jute. A progressive farmer, Ramsinghsays,“TheMSP, bydefinition,istheminimum justifiablepricethatisoffered to the farmer. It is supposed to be 25 per cent above what he spends. The Swaminathan Commission wanted this to be raised to 50 per cent.” On the impact of lack of assured MSP, Gurdeep Singh, a farmer from Bathinda district, says, “In the absence of MSP, our government imports maize, oilseeds and other products. If our crops get assured prices, we can grow more of them and become self-sufficient.”Currently, maize grown during February-March goes for as low as Rs 800-900 per quintal against the MSP of Rs 1,850. Sunflower sells for Rs 3,500 per quintal against the MSP of Rs 5,885, he adds. Agri economist Prof SS Gill recently argued that if the governmentalsostartedbuyingcropsotherthanwheatandpaddy at MSP, through its own agencies or aligning with the private sector, farmers would be benefited. The government’s target of doubling farmers’ income by 2022 is meaningless, as “There is no scientific basis to work out the average of a farmer’s income today


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यह खबर निम्न श्रेणियों पर भी है: Editorial
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