Edible oil body seeks early MSP

NEW DELHI: The edible oil industry has asked the Centre to declare the minimum support price of mustard without further delay, saying any announcement when the sowing is over will defeat the very purpose of the MSP.

The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices, the nodal agency that suggests the MSP, recommended that the support price for rapeseed be raised by Rs 100 to Rs 1,900 a quintal about a month ago, Solvent Extractors Association said in a statement on Thursday.

���The sowing (of rapeseed) is already completed (in some parts) and the harvesting will begin in the next fortnight. The very purpose of the MSP to encourage and assure the farmers (of his returns) has been defeated,��� SEA president Ashok Sethia said. He said that the prices of edible oils are weak and the supply pressure at the arrival time may further depress the prices hurting farmers interest. ���It is very essential that the MSP be raised appropriately and announced without any further delay.���

Delay in MSP announcement has become a recurring feature, he said. The MSP of kharif crops, too, were announced in September when the sowing was almost over, he said. The area under rapseed has increased to 65.9 lakh hectares, compared to 57.5 lakh hectares last year.

The association has also renewed its demand for the levy of a 30% duty on the imports of crude palm oil and crude sunflower oil, and a 37.5% duty on RBD olein to protect the domestic industry as well as farmers against inflows of cheaper edible oils from overseas.

The import of vegetable oils rose by over 80% to 2.1 million tonnes during October-December 2008.