Govt encouraging farmers to make use of good rains

For optimum returns

The Commission for Agriculture Cost and Price (CACP), a body under the ministry of agriculture, has recommended an increase in the minimum support price (MSP) of pulses by at least 10 per cent as compared to last year's prices.

The CACP suggested a 21 per cent hike in MSP for tur (from Rs 2,300 to Rs 2,800 per quintal), a 15 per cent for urad (from Rs 2,520 to Rs 2,900 per quintal), 15 for moong ( Rs 2,760 to Rs 3,171 per quintal), 5 per cent for ragi and 4 for maize. The ministry will send these recommendations first to the inter-ministerial committee of secretaries and then to the Cabinet for final approval.

The kharif (June to October) is the country’s major agriculture season, when 70 per cent of the nation’s total foodgrain yield is grown. It depends entirely on monsoon. Due to failure of rain last year, there was a shortfall in the production of pulses at 14.27 million tonne. An additional 2-3 million tonne had to imported, mainly from Canada, Myanmar and Turkey, to meet the demand.

Alarmed by this, the agriculture ministry plans to enhance production of pulses by at least two million tonne by 2012, when the 11th plan ends. The scheme is to encourage cultivation of pulses in 60,000 villages of the seven pulse-growing states.