Union Cabinet has decided to increase the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Kharif crops for marketing season 2023-24. The union cabinet, after a meeting chaired under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday announced a hike in MSP to ensure remunerative prices to growers for their produce and to encourage crop diversification. Union Minister Piyush Goyal announcing the cabinet decisions said it is the highest-ever growth that has been made by the cabinet in the Minimum Support Price for 2023-2024.
As per the new MSP, the minimum support price of paddy has been increased from Rs 2,040 per quintal to Rs 2,183 per quintal. The highest increase has been made in the price of Moong Dal for which MSP has been raised to Rs 8,558 per quintal from Rs 7,755 per quintal.
Minimum Support Price is the rate at which the government procures grains from farmers. At present, the government fixes MSP for 23 crops grown in both Kharif and Rabi seasons. Sowing of rabi (winter) crops begins in October immediately after harvesting of Kharif (summer) crops. Wheat and mustard are the major rabi crops.
Goyal said that in the meeting, PM Modi and all ministers expressed condolences to those who lost their lives in Manipur and Balasore.
Apart from MSP, the Union Cabinet has approved Metro connectivity from HUDA City Centre to Cyber City, Gurugram with Spur to Dwarka Expressway. Piyush Goyal said that this entirely elevated project will cost Rs 5,452 crores.
Earlier on Tuesday, Haryana farmers took to the streets near Shahabad and blocked the Delhi-Chandigarh national highway demanding a minimum support price (MSP) for sunflower seeds. The protest call was given by BKU (Charuni) chief Gurnam Singh Charuni. The protesting farmers claimed that the government was not buying sunflower seeds at the minimum support price, and as a result, they were forced to sell their produce to private buyers at around Rs 4,000 per quintal against Rs 6,400 MSP.
As per the protesters, they had given the government time till Monday, but their demand was taken into account. Notably, the Haryana government has decided to buy sunflowers under the Bhavantar scheme in which Rs 4800 price has been fixed and Rs 1000 will be given to the farmers under Bhavantar Yojana. A total of Rs 5800 will be given to the farmer per quintal of sunflower. But the MSP is Rs 6400 which the government is not procuring.