Congress terms hiked MSPs for Rabi crops 'too little', 'deception' with farmers


PTI | New Delhi | Updated: 08-09-2021 21:02 IST | Created: 08-09-2021 20:59 IST
Congress terms hiked MSPs for Rabi crops 'too little', 'deception' with farmers
Representative image Image Credit: ANI
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The Congress on Wednesday slammed the government over the hiked Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for Rabi crops saying they are ''too little'' and is like ''deception'' with the farmers.

The party's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala claimed said that the rise in MSP for sunflower, barley and grams was a little over 2 per cent which was ''pittance'' for the farmers.

''Too little is the rise in MSP rates and is like deception,'' he said citing the hike in MSP for sugarcane and wheat which were 1.75 per cent and 2 per cent respectively.

Surjewala alleged the government has raised the price of diesel, farm inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides, and hiked the GST on tractors and agricultural equipment leading to a rise in the cost of inputs for farmers.

He said the cost of farm inputs has increased by Rs 25,000 per hectare but the rise in MSP has been between 2 per cent to 8 per cent. ''Giving negligible but taking everything out of farmer,'' he said in a tweet in Hindi while sharing the MSP rates.

The government on Wednesday hiked the minimum support price for wheat by Rs 40 to Rs 2,015 per quintal to boost production as well as farmers income and asserted that the system of purchasing crops at support prices will continue.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for six Rabi (winter-sown) crops grown in 2021-22 crop year (July-June) and traded in Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) 2022-23.

In a tweet, the prime minister said the government has taken another big decision in the interest of farmers by increasing the MSPs of Rabi crops. He said the increased MSPs would ensure remunerative prices to farmers and also encourage them for sowing operations.

According to an official statement, wheat MSP has been raised by Rs 40 to Rs 2,015 per quintal. The cost of production of wheat is estimated at Rs 1,008 per quintal. The support price for barley has been hiked by Rs 35 to Rs 1,635 per quintal for the 2021-22 crop year from Rs 1,600 per quintal in the previous year.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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