NEW DELHI, Dec 29: To ensure that farmers get the minimum support price (MSP) for pulses, edible oils and cotton, the Union Government has written to state governments to go in for decentralised procurement of these commodities, for which the Centre will pick up the bill.
”We have received positive response from certain states but have sought the opinion of all state governments on the proposed new mechanism,” Union Minister for Agriculture and Cooperation Radha Mohan Singh told the Rajya Sabha during the Question Hour.
He said some states like Madhya Pradesh and Haryana are paying differential costs to farmers in case prices fall below the MSP. The Centre had set up a Price Stabilisation Fund under the Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs for maintaining a strategic buffer stock of agriculture commodities, including pulses for calibrated releases to moderate price volatility.
The procurement for buffer stock if done at MSP. In addition, the Government maintains a Price Support Scheme for procurement of pulses in case prices tend to fall below the minimum support price.
The scheme is operationalised on request from state governments. On a specific query from Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav on whether the Government plans to fulfill BJP’s election promise of giving farmers 50 per cent hike over and above the production cost, Mr Singh said in the last couple of years the Centre had provided bonus on the costs of pulses over and above the minimum support price set by the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices.
This was around 1.5 times of the cost of production, he said. He said four concerned ministries have formed a group that takes decisions on the export and import policy on pulses. In recent months, the government has raised the import duty on tur dal to 30 per cent and on yellow peas to 50 per cent.
”Earlier decision on export and import policy used to be taken in one to two months but now decisions are taken within a week,” he said. Separately, in his written reply, the Minister said as per the fourth advance estimates for 2016-17, the total production of pulses during the year is estimated at a record 22.95 million tonne as compared to the previous highest output of 19.25 million tonne in 2013-14. (UNI)
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel