Farmers Movement Archive

Punjab govt may provide MSP on 113 crops, if Centre doesn’t: Agriculture minister Nabha

Punjab agriculture minister Randeep Singh Nabha said that the Punjab government is likely to prepare a plan to give minimum support price (MSP) to farmers on 113 crops, excluding wheat and paddy, if the Centre failed to provide the same. Addressing a press conference in Jalandhar, the minister underlined that the Centre should announce guarantee on MSP so that the interests of the farming community could be protected. “We welcome the move to repeal the three farm laws but the Centre should announce MSP on crops without any further delay. We hope that the Union government would accede to farmers’ demands of providing guarantee on MSP. The state government has formulated a ‘vision document’ aimed at transforming the farming sector,” he added. The vision document emphasises the need for integrating technology with agriculture so that farmers could increase their income and bring down expenditure, he said. The use of drones and other latest equipment would be made to realise this goal, he said, adding that to implement the ‘vision document’ the state will be divided into six zones. Also, the government is also in the process of roping in experts to uplift the farming sector, the minister said. Expressing concern over the death of over 700 farmers during the agitation against the contentious farm laws, Nabha said that these lives could have been saved had the Union government adopted a humane approach towards farmers. The state government is making concerted efforts to promote crop-residue management practices and subsidies ranging from 60 to 80 percent on such equipment were being provided to farmers, he added. Later, Nabha told HT over phone that the farmer unions in a meeting with chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi in Chandigarh had given a list of 113 crops, including cash crops and those in horticulture, seeking MSP.

Hindustan Times

01-12-2021

Chandigarh