Samyukt Kisan Morcha demands white paper on MSP

New Delhi: Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Wednesday urged the government to issue a 'white paper' on crops' minimum support prices and the procurement system.

SKM also alleged that around 90 per cent of crops are not being procured on government-fixed rates.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, SKM accused Union Agriculture Minister Shivaraj Singh Chauhan of "misleading people", saying he should reveal the difference between MSP based on the formula A2+FL+50 per cent and C2+50 per cent, which was recommended by the MS Swaminathan-led National Commission on Farmers, through a white paper.

MSP is the lowest price set by the government for purchasing certain crops from farmers. The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP), an attached office of the Union Agricultural Ministry, suggests MSPs for specific crops.

The A2+FL+50 per cent formula includes costs incurred by the farmer and the value of the family labour and adds 50 per cent of the cost to derive the MSP.

In comparison, as per the C2+50 per cent formula recommended by the National Commission of Farmers Chaired by M S Swaminathan, C2 means comprehensive cost, which is A2+FL cost, and also adds imputed rental value of owned land, and interest on fixed capital, rent paid for leased-in land, and adds 50 per cent of the achieved value to determine the MSP.

SKM said as far as paddy is concerned, the present MSP of Rs 2,300 per quintal is 30 per cent less than the rate based on the C2+50 per cent calculation, which comes up to Rs 3,012 per quintal, which means farmers are suffering the loss of Rs 712 per quintal.

"As the average productivity of Paddy in India is considered at 2,390 kg per hectare, a farmer with one-hectare land is losing Rs 17,016 per one crop, leading to inadequate income and widespread indebtedness," according to SKM.

"The NDA-3 government is not ready to accept the recommendation of MSP at C2+50 per cent of the National Farmers Commission headed by Dr MS Swaminathan," it added.

The SKM said that for Jowar, there is a difference of Rs 1,066 per quintal between the MSP fixed as per the A2+FL+50 per cent formula and the C2+ 50 per cent formula.

For Bajra, the difference is Rs 279 per quintal, Maize (Rs 570 per quintal), Ragi (Rs 908 per quintal), Arhar (Rs 2,206 per quintal), Moong (Rs 2,274 per quintal), Groundnut (Rs 1,713 per quintal), and Soyabean (Rs 1,555 per quintal).

The difference for Sunflower comes to Rs 2,611 per quintal, Sesamum (Rs 2,961 per quintal), Nigerseed (Rs.2,296 per quintal), and Cotton (around Rs 2,224 per quintal).

"The minister's claim in the virtual review meeting on 4th January 2025 with the Agricultural Ministers of the states /UTs that 'whatever wheat and rice comes, arrangements are made to buy it at MSP" is factually incorrect.

"Only below 10 per cent of the crops are procured as of now, and the farmers are forced to sell the remaining 90 per cent of the produce at a rate below the MSP at A2+FL+50 per cent declared by the CACP is the reality," SKM noted.

SKM also said that the recent report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing, which recommended the government implement a legally binding minimum support price (MSP) for agricultural produce, is not acceptable for farmers as it does not recommend C2+50 per cent formula.

They added that the same committee has recommended "to introduce a scheme to waive off the debt of Farmers and Farm Labourers in view of the rising Framers debt & suicides linked to farm distress" and "a National Commission for Minimum Living Wages for Farm Labourers may be established at the earliest to provide long due rights to Farm Labourers".