The State government on Tuesday told the Legislative Assembly that it would approach the Centre to seek not only an increase in the procurement period of paddy under Minimum Support Price (MSP) scheme from the present three months, but also to hike the quantum of procurement allowed.
Replying to a debate on fall in prices of farm produce and procurement under MSP scheme, Law Minister J.C. Madhuswamy said the norms did not allow for taking up procurement beyond three months. However, the State would make efforts to extend this.
Also, different harvesting seasons in different regions for paddy had made market intervention a complicated exercise, he observed. The government was also open to the idea of having different procurement seasons for different regions, he said.
Responding to the concerns expressed by the Opposition members that the upper limit for procurement fixed by the Centre was too meagre, he said the State would also take up the issue with the Centre if there are indications of the actual procurement exceeding the upper limit.
But, Mr. Madhuswamy declined the suggestion for providing incentive in addition to MSPs, saying that the difficult financial condition would not allow it this year. However, it could be considered next year, he noted. He said the government would begin procurement early from next year. However, he declined the request by the Opposition members to procure maize under MSP scheme, saying that it was not possible to distribute it through the Public Distribution System.
Describing the government’s reply as disappointing, the Opposition Congress members staged a walkout.
Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah argued that the government could borrow from financial institutions to provide incentives to farmers. Taking exception to prescribing an upper limit on quantum of procurement, Mr. Siddaramaiah demanded that the State government should procure at least 70% of the total quantum of produce grown.
Earlier, Mr. Siddaramaiah expressed concern that the State had been permitted to procure only 2.1 lakh tonnes of paddy though the actual production was estimated to be around 29 lakh tonnes. He urged Karnataka to provide an additional ₹500 a quintal to paddy farmers in addition to MSP fixed by the Centre.
Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, who is also chairman of the Cabinet sub-committee that looks into procurement under MSP scheme, said he would soon meet Union Minister Piyush Goyal, who is in charge of the Food and Civil Supplies Department, to request for increasing the quantum of procurement. He maintained that the Centre had fixed the upper ceiling going by the previous procurement levels.
Intervening during the discussion, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa said the KMF had been told to procure one lakh tonne of maize by providing MSP of ₹1,500 a tonne. But the Opposition members maintained that buying this would not help farmers as the total production had touched 40 lakh tonnes.
