Can't raise MSP of cereals by 50%: Agricultue Ministry tells Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The agriculture ministry has told the Supreme Court that it cannot increase the minimum statutory prices of key cereals or pulses any further, responding to a court notice asking it to explain why MSPs of certain produce should not be hiked by at least 50% of the cost to stem rising incidence of farmer suicides.

The demand was made by the Consortium of Indian Farmers' Association, which had filed a PIL demanding that the government implement recommendations of the MS Swaminathan committee that had suggested the hike. The committee's findings were commended in 2010 by a working group of agricultural production headed by the Prime Minister. The group had suggested that the government also fix MSPs for pulses, oilseeds and vegetables, especially potato, onion and garlic.

The working group had said that the methodology used by the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Pricing for calculating cost of cultivation was flawed and unscientific. This needed to be revisited to make it more realistic on the lines of the formula used for estimating industrial costs or, preferably, the MSP should be at least 50% higher than the cost of cultivation as suggested by the Swaminathan committee, it had said.