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Hike in MSP for kharif crops
Why is it in the news?
- Governemnt has hiked the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy by less than 4% to ₹1,815 per quintal for the 2019-20 season.
- The Rs 65 per quintal increase is much lower than last year’s hike of Rs 200 per quintal.
Manual Scavenging in India
- MSPs were hiked for 14 major crops of the kharif or summer season, to ensure they remain at a level that is 1.5 times the cost of production.
- The decision to hike the MSP was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
- The only commodities with MSP that will ensure a higher than 50% return over input costs are bajra (85%), urad (64%) and tur dal (60%).
- However, even for these crops, returns are lower than last year.
- Also, farmers groups pointed out that MSPs do not actually help the farmer unless procurement can be increased.
- Minimum Support Price(MSP):(1) Minimum Support Price is the price at which government purchases crops from the farmers.(2) MSP is price fixed by Government of India to protect the farmers against excessive fall in price during bumper production years.(3) The minimum support prices are a guarantee price for their produce from the Government.(4) MSP helps to procure adequate food grains through FCI, state agencies and cooperatives.(5) The PDS network through the policy of issue price delivers it to the weaker sections.(6) However, there is no guaranteed procurement mechanism for most crops.(7) Just over a third of the paddy harvest is bought by the Food Corporation of India for use in the public distribution system.
Source
The Hindu.