Govt's MSP fixing mechanism for crops under review

new delhi: with the initiation of reforms in storage, licensing and marketing of agro-commodities, the mechanism for fixing the minimum support price for major crops too has come under review. the threadbare analysis will be undertaken later this month by the central and state government officials, experts from agricultural universities and research institutes and farmers from all over the country, official sources said. the move assumes significance in the wake of the reference made to the commission on agricultural costs and prices by the centre to make suggestions for rationalisation of sugarcane prices before full decontrol of sugar industry. sources said the review would include methodology for projecting cost estimates of production, its reliability, compilation procedures, sampling design and imputation methods adopted. the status report on implementation of recommendations of expert committees on cost of production will also be taken up. the cacp estimates the cost of cultivation of principal crops on the basis of which the msp is recommended to be fixed. the reliability and efficiency of cost estimates under the central sector core scheme will be scrutinised in relation to the estimates of the state governments, the regular changes in variable costs and differences between the projected and actual costs. cacp''s projected costs of production are generally found to be lower than those obtained in some of the states, based on their own surveys. this is attributed to conceptual differences in estimates of weather risk, management charges and transportation cost.