With wheat harvesting in full swing in Punjab and Haryana, farmers, for the first time, have started receiving minimum support price (MSP) payment directly in their bank accounts under the Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme (DBT). The government data shows ₹5,385 crore has been transferred so far in the ongoing procurement season by the Central and State procurement agencies to farmers against purchase of their crops in both the States. In Punjab, ₹2,600 crore has been paid to accounts of farmers till April 20 under the scheme. In Haryana, ₹2,785 crore have been transferred directly to the accounts of farmers.Punjab Food Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said “under the DBT scheme payments more than ₹2,600 crore has been paid to the
Tag: Minimum support price
Farm laws | Centre calls Punjab farmers for 2nd round of talks on December 3
The Centre on Tuesday said it has invited farmer unions from Punjab for the second round of ministerial talks on December 3 to resolve differences over the new agriculture laws.The meeting comes after farmer leaders laid a condition for another central ministerial meeting while calling off their ‘rail roko’ agitation in Punjab on Monday and lifted the nearly two-month-long blockade, allowing resumption of only goods trains.Explainer | Why are the Agriculture Bills being opposed?Speaking to PTI, Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said, “We have called the representatives of over 30 farmer organisations for the second round of discussion on December 3 at Vigyan Bhawan at 11 am“.The secretary has sent the invitation to the farmer bodies on behalf of Union
Data | Market arrivals dip, procurement delays: How COVID-19 impacted agriculture
After the lockdown was imposed, the price of wheat dropped below the Minimum Support Price level which means that farmers were forced to sell at low prices Due to the stringent lockdown, the quantity of agricultural produce arriving in markets reduced substantially. This combined with delayed and poor procurement of farm produce forced farmers to sell at cheaper prices than expected. Both market arrivals and prices have seen a revival lately, but are still a far cry from the pre-lockdown levels.Out of the marketThe chart depicts the daily market arrivals of 302 farm products into 2,938 Indian markets in 2018 (represented by the green line), 2019 (represented by the blue line) and 2020 (represented by the red line). Market arrivals
Minimum Support Price: A matter of definition
The government has agreed to fix the Minimum Support Price (MSP) at 50% more than the production cost incurred by the farmer in kharif crops. But, there is a marked difference between what the government considers as the cost of production and what the farmer incurs. Here's a look at the difference in definition, how much each crop loses because of this difference and how frequently the Centre changes the MSP. The below table shows that the gap between promised and calculated MSP is highest for dal varieties Moong, Urad and Arhar. The below chart depicts the relationship between MSP and years when there was a Lok Sabha election. You have reached your limit for free articles this month. To get full access,