The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affai₹ (CCEA) on Monday approved an increase in the minimum support prices (MSPs) for all mandated kharif crops, including paddy, pulses and cotton, for the 2020-21 marketing season.
The Union Cabinet also extended the repayment date for standard short-term loans upto ₹3 lakh for agriculture and allied activities, till August 31, 2020.
The MSP for paddy (common) has been increased by ₹53 per quintal, to ₹1868 per quintal, while that of cotton was increased by ₹260 per quintal to ₹5,515 for medium staple variety, and by ₹275 per quintal to ₹5,825 for long staple variety.
Hike for oilseeds
The highest increase in MSP is proposed for nigerseed (₹755 per quintal), followed by sesamum (₹370 per quintal) and urad (₹300 per quintal).
“The increase in MSP for kharif crops is in line with the Union Budget 2018-19 announcement of fixing the MSPs at a level of at least 1.5 times of the all-India weighted average cost of production, aiming at reasonably fair remuneration for the farmers”, an official release said.
It added that the expected returns to farmers over their cost of production are estimated to be highest in case of bajra (83%) followed by urad (64%), tur (58%) and maize (53%).
For the rest of the crops, return to farmers over their cost of production is estimated to be at least 50%.
Among cereals, the government increased the support price of bajra by ₹150 to ₹2,150 per quintal for this year, while that of ragi has been raised by ₹145 to ₹3,295 per quintal and maize by ₹90 per quintal to ₹1,850 per quintal for the current year.
Likewise, the MSP for jowar has been increased by ₹70 per quintal for this year.
The government has increased the MSP of urad by ₹300 per quintal to ₹6,000 per quintal, while that of tur has been raised by ₹200 per quintal to ₹6,000 per quintal. The MSP of moong has also been increased by ₹146 per quintal to ₹7,196 per quintal.
