Govt announces MSP for Kharif season crops

The central government has fixed ₹2,183 as minimum support price (MSP) for a quintal of paddy for the 2023-24 kharif marketing season. The MSP for the previous year for paddy was ₹2,040 a quintal. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today approved the increase in the MSP for all mandated Kharif Crops for Marketing Season 2023-24 today. In addition to paddy, the other mandated Kharif crops for which the government fixes MSP are jowar, bajra, ragi, maize, tur, moong, urad, groundnut, sunflower seed, soybean, sesamum, niger seed and cotton.

The government said that the increase in MSP for Kharif Crops for Marketing Season 2023-24 is in line with the Union Budget 2018-19 announcement of fixing the MSP 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. "The expected margin to farmers over their cost of production are estimated to be highest in case of bajra (82%) followed by tur (58%), soybean (52%) and urad (51%). For the rest of the crops, the margin to farmers over their cost of production is estimated to be at least 50%," the government claimed.

The MSP for bajra was revised to ₹2,500 per quintal from ₹2,350 a quintal last year. The MSP for tur has been raised to ₹7,000 a quintal from ₹6,600 a quintal a year before. Soybean MSP for the 2023-24 kharif marketing season has been fixed at ₹4,600 a quintal from ₹4,300 a quintal last year. The MSP for urad will be ₹6,950 a quintal, up from ₹6,600 a quintal last year.

As per Third Advance Estimates for 2022-23, total foodgrain production in the country is estimated at record 330.5 million tonnes which is higher by 14.9 million tonnes as compared to the previous year 2021-22.

Of late the government has been promoting the cultivation of crops, other than cereals such as pulses, oilseeds, and Nutri-cereals/ Shree Anna, by offering a higher MSP for these crops. Additionally, the government has also launched various schemes and initiatives, such as the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), the National Food Security Mission (NFSM), to encourage farmers to diversify their crops.