‘MSP not most preferred mode for farmers in Uttar Pradesh’: NITI Aayog study

Only a fraction of farmers in Uttar Pradesh sells their produce to authorities companies taking the Minimum Support Price (MSP) route whereas the remainder choose to commerce within the open market or cope with personal brokers, typically even under MSP for various causes.

MSP is the first and quick concern of farmers who’re protesting the three agriculture reform payments handed by Parliament lately. They concern that after the enactment of latest legal guidelines, the Centre could withdraw the security internet (MSP).

“We cannot trust verbal commitment on MSP. The government must make a provision in the law itself guaranteeing that MSP will continue,” mentioned Bharatiya Kisan Union state president Rajveer Singh Jadaun.

Based on the suggestions of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, the Central authorities declares MSP for round two dozen crops earlier than their sowing seasons. The concept behind MSP is to present a assured value and warranted market to farmers and shield them from value fluctuations and market imperfections.

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Although the MSP system is taken into account an vital software that protects farmers’ pursuits by assuring a threshold value to them, research present that solely a fraction of crops underneath MSP are offered to the federal government in UP the place wheat and paddy are two main crops.

“It is observed that 28 percent of farmers in Uttar Pradesh sold their grains under MSP, 63 percent sold their grains in the open market and the remaining 8 percent kept for their self-consumption. It has also been observed during the course of study that 82 percent of the farmers reported to have faced various limitations in selling their food grains/crops at MSP,” the NITI Aayog present in its ‘Evaluation Study of Efficacy of Minimum Support Price on Farmers’.

The pattern research was revealed in 2016 with a reference interval between 2007-08 and 2010-11, overlaying farmers of 36 districts (six in UP) throughout 14 states.

Ajit Kumar Singh, economist and former director of Giri Institute of Developmental Studies, mentioned it was true that solely a fraction of farmers offered their meals grains to authorities companies, the position of which was very restricted.

“Our survey revealed that farmers sold more than half of their produce to traders, 28.3 percent to the wholesalers, 25.8 percent to the village traders and only 14 percent to government agencies,” he mentioned, quoting a research commissioned to him by UP’s planning division in 2010.

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These figures, in keeping with him, indicated that agricultural advertising within the state was dominated by the merchants and the position of presidency companies was fairly restricted.

“As a result, the farmers do not get a fair value of their produce,” he mentioned.

According to former further director (meals and civil provides) AK Singh, typically farmers choose to promote their meals grain within the open market additionally as a result of they get value above MSP.

“In that sense, MSP is a useful system as sometimes forces private agencies to offer a better price to farmers,” he mentioned.

The NITI Aayog research additionally discovered that as a result of unavailability of prompt money at MSP, small and marginal farmers most well-liked to promote to merchants who made on the spot funds.

“It was also found that sometimes, small and marginal farmers resorted to distress sales due to urgent need for money or to repay the loan taken before the sowing season. Some also pointed out that MSP was too low as it did not cover the rising farming costs,” the report mentioned.

Singh additionally present in his research that farmers confronted loads of issues in promoting their produce in regulated markets. Nearly three-fourths of the farmers surveyed complained of undue deductions. Often, the produce was declared of decrease high quality and therefore cheaper price is obtainable.

“More than two-thirds of the farmers surveyed complained about the long distance from the market and lack of transport facilities. Delayed payment and false weighing were the other common problems faced by the farmers. About 20 percent farmers opined that they face problems in marketing as they have small surplus to sell,” he mentioned.

According to the NITI Aayog research, the respondents chosen in UP villages had been in favour of the continuation of MSP which indicated that despite all of the lacunae within the means of implementation, individuals, on the entire, had benefitted from the MSP coverage.

Singh additionally mentioned that MSP was an vital mechanism that insulated farmers towards market value fluctuations in addition to for the federal government to purchase wheat and paddy for the Public Distribution System (PDS) pool.

“I, therefore, feel that farmers’ fears that the government may do away with the PDS system are a little exaggerated,” Singh pressured.