Guwahati (Assam): Although the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has increased the minimum support price (MSP) ahead of the Kharif season, it is unlikely to benefit the farmers in Assam.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had also stated that the decision to increase the MSP was taken considering the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and particularly its impact on the farm sector in the past years.
The BJP led government at the Centre stated that the government has raised the MSP of paddy (common) to Rs 1,940 per quintal from the existing Rs 1,868 per quintal for 2021-22, which indicated a hike of Rs 72 per quintal.
While the decision to hike the MSP was considered a welcome move to benefit the farmers across the country, it is unlikely to benefit the farmers in Assam. The farmers in Assam had never been benefitted in the past also like the amount of procurement of paddy from Assam by the Central government agency is very negligible.
Read: Union Cabinet hikes MSP for Kharif crops, says MSP will continue
According to the statistics, the farmers of Assam had produced 52.55 lakh tons of paddy in the 2020-2021 fiscal. However, the government agency procured only 0.45 lakh ton of paddy from Assam in the said fiscal, which indicated that the farmers of Assam had to sell the 53.05 lakh ton paddy to private parties fetching a price between Rs. 800 to Rs. 900 only per quintal.
According to the government records, Assam's paddy production was 47.27 lakh ton in 2016-17 financial year out of which the Food Corporation of India (FCI) procured only 0.47 lakh ton of paddy.
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The northeastern state had produced 52.84 lakh tons of paddy in 2017-18 fiscal but the FCI and other agencies procured only 0.35 lakh tons of the paddy forcing them to go to the private sector for very low price realization for their paddy.
Similarly, although the paddy production in Assam in the 2018-19 fiscal recorded 52.21 lakh ton the government procurement limited to merely 1.01 lakh ton. The statistics further indicated that the paddy production in Assam reached 49.85 lakh ton in the 2019-20 fiscal but again the government procured only 2.11 lakh ton depriving the farmers in Assam.
Read: 'MSP law could be the way to end the deadlock in the farmers 'movement'
