Govt to constitute committee to make MSP system effective, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday that a committee will be constituted to make the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system more effective and transparent. The committee will also suggest ways for promoting zero budgeting based-agriculture.

The committee thus formed will have representatives of the central government, state governments, farmers, agricultural scientists, and agricultural economists, noted the Prime Minister.

PM Modi also announced on Friday the decision to repeal the farm laws. A legal guarantee on MSP has been one of the major demands of farmer unions that have been protesting against the three farm laws.

"Today only, we have taken one more important decision related to agriculture sector. We will set up a committee to promote zero budget farming or natural farming, to change crop pattern in the scientific manner as per the changing needs of the country and to make MSP more effective and transparent," said PM Modi in his address to the nation on Friday.

He added that many initiatives have been undertaken for the farmers in order to get them the right price for their produce in return for their hard work.

"We not only increased the MSP but also created a record number of government procurement centres. The procurement of the produce made by our government has broken the records of the last several decades," he said.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has explained that the committee will submit the report that will be beneficial to farmers of the country. He added that the government had decided to fix the MSP at least 1.5 times higher than the cost of production.

Tomar said the Centre has started procurement of pulses, oilseeds and coarse cereals apart from wheat and paddy at MSP rates.

During the last marketing years of kharif and rabi seasons, Food Corporation of India, the nodal agency for procurement and distribution of food grains, has procured record wheat and paddy crops at MSPs.

Currently, the government decides the MSP based on the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP).

(With PTI Inputs)

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