Scientific approach needed for fixing MSP of crops: SAD chief

Chandigarh: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday called for adopting a scientific approach towards fixing minimum support price for all crops.

He also asserted that the marginal increase in the MSP for paddy by Rs 117 per quintal did not take into account the comprehensive cost plus 50 per cent profit as mandated by the Swaminathan Commission.

The Centre on Wednesday raised the MSP for 14 crops. The MSP for paddy has been hiked by 5.35 per cent to Rs 2,300 per quintal for the 2024-25 kharif marketing season.

SAD chief Badal said though the MSPs of both moong and maize have been increased, no mechanism was in place to procure these crops on MSP.

"Farmers in Punjab as well as elsewhere in the country have been left to the mercy of private players because the union government is not procuring these crops on MSP," he said in a statement.

In case of Punjab, farmers bore huge losses after they sowed moong on large scale, trusting Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's promise of MSP procurement, which the government later reneged on, he said.

Speaking about the increase in MSP for paddy, Badal said, "The entire process of calculation of the comprehensive cost (C-2) including the imputed cost of the land and its rent value should be put in public domain." "Farmers rightly feel that they are being short changed and that if the C-2 cost is not calculated accurately, they will not get the justified MSP as 50 per cent profit is to be calculated on the C-2 figure," said Badal.

The SAD supremo advocated that a committee be formed to calculate the C-2 plus 50 percent profit figure for all 14 Kharif crops and that this committee should include farmer representatives.

Meanwhile, Punjab's ruling party Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lashed out at the BJP-led Centre, accusing it of doing a "drama" of being farmer-friendly.

If the BJP is really concerned about the farmers of the country, it should bring an MSP guarantee law as per the demand of farmers, said AAP leader Harsukhinder Singh Babbi Badal.

The cost of agriculture has increased by about 70 per cent in the last several years and the Modi government is patting its own back by increasing the MSP by only 7 percent, he said.

He said only 13 per cent of crops are purchased at MSP in the country.

Badal pointed out taht in many states, crops are not purchased at MSP. Therefore, this increase in MSP is "too little and too late".

He said a minor increase in MSP cannot get farmers out of the economic crisis.

"Farmers of the country can be prosperous only when they are paid the price of crops according to 'C2 plus 50' per cent as per the report of the Swaminathan Commission. Apart from this, farmers should be given separate financial incentives for crop diversification," he said.