Rabi MSP: Farmers unions ‘reject govt’s play with numbers, seek real, not imaginary profits’
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 8
“Rejecting” the government’s “play with numbers while demanding “real, not imaginary profits”, farmer unions claimed that the MSP of Rabi crops for 2022-23, announced on Wednesday, “has been reduced in real terms” and accused it of “once again misleading the farmers”.
Some agriculture experts also said the Rabi MSP for 2022-23 “will hardly achieve its declared objective, which is an increase in farmers income and crop diversification”.
Agitating farmers organisations said if inflation of “6% is taken into consideration, in real terms, the MSP of most crops has decreased”.
“For example, the MSP of wheat has increased by only 2%. This means that in real terms, MSP has been reduced by 4%. The new MSP of Rs 2015 for wheat is equivalent to Rs 1,901 when adjusted for inflation,” they said, also accusing the government of “misusing” the term “Comprehensive Costs” used to refer to C2 Cost of Production.
“The government is blatantly deceiving the farmers and nation by using a lower cost measure A2+FL and claiming that it is giving 50% above the cost. For example, in 2021-22, the comprehensive C2 cost of production for wheat was Rs 1,467 which is 50% higher than the lower cost of Rs 960 used by the government,” farmers unions said, “rejecting” the government’s “play with numbers while demanding “real profits not imaginary profits”.
They also said without a legal guarantee, the MSP declared by the government is of no value for most farmers because they are still having to sell their crops below the support price.
Also according to agriculture expert Sudhir Panwar, the Rabi MSP for 2022-23 “will hardly achieve its declared objective, which is an increase in farmers income and crop diversification”.
“Farmers will lose Rs 8 per quintal as increases in input cost is Rs 48 per quintal in comparison to the last season 2021-22 while hike in MSP is only Rs 40,” he said, claiming that barley’ farmers “will also lose Rs 13 per quintal because input cost has increased by Rs 48 while increase in MSP is only Rs 35”.
“Considering the factor of increase in input cost, the effective hike in MSP of lentil is Rs 185, Mustard Rs 290 and Safflower Rs 36 per quintal,” he said.
“The other objective diversification of crops is not visible as returns in wheat and mustard are the same, that is 100 per cent while in pulses, which needs encouragement, it is lesser than wheat. For lentil it is 79 per cent, gram 74 per cent, safflower 50 per cent and barley 60 per cent only,” he added.
