Farmers Movement Archive

Not getting MSP for produce, allege farmers

Farmers from different villages in Delhi alleged that they are not getting the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their produce in markets and many times, suffer losses despite the Delhi government promising higher prices than the MSP. “A week ago, I sold about 17 quintals of bajra for Rs. 1,250/quintal to a middleman in Najafgarh mandi. The MSP is more than Rs. 2,100. But we do not get that rate and there is no government control at the mandi. Also, the government does not buy from us,” said 65-year-old Ram Kumar, a farmer from Kharkhari Jatmal village in Delhi. Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Delhi in-charge Virender Dagar said the Delhi government had promised them Swaminathan Committee rates for their produce, which is higher than the MSP, but they do not even get the MSP. Naresh Kumar, Chairman of Najafgarh Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), where farmers go to sell their produce, said the FCI (Food Corporation of India) under the Centre has not been procuring any produce from Delhi’s markets since 2015. He said they have written multiple letters to the FCI on the same, but in vain. “The Delhi government has no power to buy produce from farmers and it has no storage. If FCI buys from the farmer, then they will buy at MS. But now when a private person buys, farmers do not get the MSP in most cases,” Mr. Kumar said. He said the farmers are suffering losses because of this problem. On Tuesday, the BKU gave a memorandum to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on the issue and he has promised to look into the matter. Panel report In February 2019, the Delhi government had said they have “conceptualised” the implementation of recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee report on farmers that “MSP should be at least 50% more than the weighted average cost of production” under a scheme — Mukhya Mantri Kisan Mitra Yojna. An “Agriculture Conference on Implementation of Recommendations of Swaminathan Committee” was also held by Development Minister Gopal Rai. The proposed MSP, with 50% margin at the cost of production, was Rs. 2,616/ quintal and Rs. 2,667/quintal for wheat and paddy respectively. “The proposed MSP structure is higher than the Government of India MSP by Rs. 776/quintal for wheat and Rs. 897/quintal for paddy. It is likely to incur an additional liability of Rs. 96.38 crore, if implemented,” an official statement had said. The FCI was supposed to buy produce from the farmers at the new higher MSP and the Delhi government was to give the extra amount to the Centre. But the scheme did not work out as FCI is not buying the produce, according to Delhi government officials. Mr. Kumar and other farmers said their counterparts in Haryana were getting the MSP of Rs. 2,150/quintal for bajra. “After all my expenses in ploughing, sowing, cost of manure and cutting, I am losing money by selling it at Rs. 1,250/quintal. But what can I do?” said the farmer, who owns two acres of land. Kamal Singh, 60, from the same village said he had sold 27 quintals of wheat at Rs. 1,680/ quintal, which is less than the MSP of Rs. 1,925/quintal of 2019.Many others from the village had similar complaints and said that always middlemen buy from them. Yogesh Phalswal, 25, of Ghumman Hera village said bajra is being sold for around Rs. 1,400/quintal and they do not get MSP. He also showed a WhatsApp message of the purported rates of different produce being sold in the market and all prices in the list, expect for rice, was lower than MSP. A Delhi government spokesperson refused to respond to queries.

The Hindu

2020-10-07

New Delhi