Punjab CM bats for reviewing procedure to fix MSP

Chandigarh, September 7, 2014: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today urged the Government of India (GoI) to review the procedure for fixing the Minimum Support Price (MSP) to make it far more remunerative in order to improve the viability of farming thereby adopting the formula of determining the rental value of the owned land as per actual market land rent.
Flagging up the Methodological issues to determine MSP with the Ministry of Agriculture, GoI, the Chief Minister pointed out that the provision in the Punjab Security of Land Tenures Act, 1953 to limit the land rent upto one third of value of the produce was made to protect the rights of the tenants and was no more applicable because of abolition of tenancy adding that in the light of this the state Agriculture department has already recommended to the Revenue department to amend the Act to provide for market based land rent. Taking up another issue, he said that since the farmer and his family work on the farm almost round the clock not only as labour but also as a skilled labour as well, e.g. drivers of machinery etc. as such the value for family labour should be provided at a rate 25% higher than the hired labour. Likewise, Mr. Badal also pleaded that interest on the working capital should be provided for whole of crop season as a major share of short-term credit was generally availed at the time of sowing of crops for arranging the inputs such as seeds, diesel/ hiring machinery, fertilizers and pesticides etc. and re-paid after the harvest.
Dwelling on the formula to be evolved for fixing the MSP, the Chief Minister said that it should be fixed on the basis of C3 cost i.e. it should include not only the paid-out costs and imputed costs (C2) but also the value for managerial input of the farmer adding he said that further, the managerial and supervision cost should be taken as 20% of the value of C2. Badal pleaded that the Punjabi farmers should be duly compensated for aptly managing their farms due to their inherent skills, vast expertise and experience of innovative farm practices, which they had acquired  from their ancestors over past several generations. Batting for the implementation of renowned agro scientist Dr MS Swaminathan’s formula he said that the MSP should include the cost of cultivation plus a margin of 50% as suggested by Chairman National Farmers Commission, so as to provide for the viability of farming and development of new infrastructure required for adoption of improved technologies. Badal also impressed on the Union Government to ensure that the farmers must continue to get the prevailing market prices for their produce when any change was made in the import/ export regulations and tariffs to safeguard the interest of consumers.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has deputed the Financial Commissioner Development (FCD) Suresh Kumar to take up the entire matter for the fixation of MSP according to state’s recommendations with Director National Centre for Agriculture Economics and Policy Research (NCAP) Dr. Ramesh Chand, who is heading a committee set up by Ministry of Agriculture, GoI to examine methodological issues in fixing minimum support prices for this purpose.
It may be recalled that Punjab with mere 1.53 per cent of the geographical area of the country produces around 20% of wheat, 10% of rice and 10% of cotton production of the country. The state has contributed significantly to the national pool of food grains, making the country self-sufficient in food grains and food security. The assured procurement of food grains at Minimum Support Price has played a key role in this development. The farmers of the State have been demanding a review of the procedure to fix the MSP to make it remunerative and thereby improve the viability of farming.

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