After weeks of dithering, the union government might finally decide on hiking the minimum support price of paddy to Rs 10,000 per metric tonne over the next 7-10 days. Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said that the government has almost decided to hike the MSP for paddy.
?The government has been so far supporting wheat cultivators by determining a higher MSP and now it is looking into how well it can support the paddy cultivators by fixing a higher MSP,? Pawar said on the sidelines of the foundation stone laying ceremony of a sugar mill in Motihari in Bihar.
This would be the second big decision by the government for farmers after it announced a massive Rs 710 billion-farm loan waiver in the Union ministry.
Meanwhile, official sources said that the agriculture ministry has accepted all the recommendations of the committee of agriculture costs and prices (CACP).
?Though the agriculture ministry has favoured raising the MSP for paddy, but a final decision rests with the finance ministry,? the source said. Apart from favouring a hike in paddy MSP, the CACP has also recommended increasing the MSP of maize to Rs 8,400 per tonne, up from the Rs 6, 200 per tonne.
The MSP for arhar (pigeon pea) is proposed to be raised to Rs 20, 000 per tonne, up from the Rs 15, 900 per tonne. The MSP for urad (black gram) has been proposed at Rs 25, 200 per tonne, up from Rs 7,400 per tonne. For soybean, the MSP for black and yellow varieties has been proposed at Rs 13, 500 per tonne. For cotton, the CACP recommended an MSP of Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 per tonne.