Plea To Raise MSP For Paddy

Visakhapatnam: The demand for fixing the minimum support price for paddy at Rs 1,000 a quintal, being voiced by different political parties in the State and several farmers’ organisations, is quite justified and the Union Government should concede it, according to Dr Y. Sivaji, a former member of the Rajya Sabha and president of the AP Tobacco Growers’ Association.

Dr Sivaji said in Guntur on Thursday that the country’s food security would be in jeopardy if the Union Government did not wake up to certain realities. The per-capita availability of food grains per day had gone down from 510.10 grams in 1991 to 463.40 grams now.

The availability of paddy has gone down from 221.7 grams to 194.5 grams. If the situation continues the government will have to import rice like wheat imports, he said.

“Similar is the situation with pulses. Therefore, keeping in view the ever increasing costs of agricultural inputs and the food security of the country, both the paddy farmers and wheat farmers should be paid Rs 1,000 a quintal. The price fixed for paddy - Rs 725 per quintal for fine variety and Rs 695 for the common variety - is grossly inadequate,” he added.

Commenting on the situation in Andhra Pradesh, Dr Sivaji said the millers in the State were exploiting farmers, who are denied a remunerative price, as there was no direct procurement.

“In several other States such as Punjab, the Government agencies procure the paddy from farmers at MSP, mill it and supply it to the FCI. In Andhra Pradesh, on the other hand, it has been private monopoly for ages and it has to be broken. The State Government agencies should procure at least 15-20 lakhs tonnes and supply it to the FCI to inject competition into the market. Otherwise, the farmer will be at the mercy of the miller,” he opined. He alleged that the millers in the State were pocketing Rs 1,000-2,000 crore every crop year.

He said the State Government was getting Rs 600 crore or so in the form of taxes and rural development cess and that should be ploughed back for the benefit of the farmers.

Dr Sivaji said that the MSP of paddy in 1994-95 was Rs 360 a quintal on a par with that of wheat. By 1997-98, the gap widened, with the MSP for paddy being fixed at Rs 415 per quintal and for wheat at Rs 510 per quintal. During 1998-99, the MSP for paddy was pegged at Rs 440 and for wheat at Rs 550 and during 2003-04 the respective prices were Rs 550 and Rs 630.

“Now the gap has widened to Rs 300 per quintal, with wheat getting Rs 1,000 a quintal and paddy only Rs 700. Considering the comparative costs of cultivation and other factors, there is no justification for such a disparity. Paddy should get the same MSP. The political parties may have their motives for voicing the demand, but the Union Government should concede keeping in view the welfare of farmers,” he pleaded.