Seven eastern states not offering MSP to farmers

NEW DELHI: The Centre's initiative to extend green revolution to the country's eastern belt is likely to suffer a setback. The states, which are covered under the initiative, have refused to offer procurement price to the farmers for both paddy and wheat.

The Centre has fixed a MSP of 1,100 per quintal for wheat, and 1,030-1,080 per quintal for paddy for the season 2010-11. While the common grade of paddy commands a MSP of 1,030 per quintal, it is 1080 per quintal for the finer variety --Grade A-- of the crop.

The Agriculture Ministry has found that farmers in West Bengal, eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Assam have not been offered the procurement price fixed by the Centre. The ministry has conducted a review on the procurement drive in the seven states.

The ministry now fears that this may upset the calculations on extending the benefits of green revolution to the easterm sector and may also affect the country's overall food production .

Worried over the reports of farmers not being given the procurement price for wheat and paddy in each of these seven states, the Krishi Bhawan has decided to hold a meeting with the ministries of food, power, water resources and financial services here next month to find out ways to provide the required inputs to the farmers of these states so as to ensure that their endeavour did not go waste.

One of the successes of the government's agricultural policy has been the signal given to the farmers from time to time in the form of MSP offered to them in various crops. "If you cannot honour the commitment given to the farmers, they will think twice before growing those crops in the next season, and will be constrained to shift to other crops. This is bound to affect overall food production in the country,'' official sources pointed out. "We are running this to programme to extend green revolution to the eastern parts of the country. We have to ensure that the farmers get the safety net and procurement as per the MSP,'' Union Agriculture Secretary P K Basu told ET. The Government has, as per the third estimates, set a target of 84.5 million tonnes of wheat production for the 2010-11 season, while in the case of paddy, it has been pegged at a little over 94 million tonnes. If the targets are to be achieved, it is imperative, the sources pointed out, that the eastern states deliver.

"In these state, the procurement machinery is not that strong. In some places, it is practically non-existent. In states such as Bihar and Jharkhand, there is not enough storage capacity,'' the sources said.

To boost the procurement drive, the ministry has already held consultations with officials of Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh, while a meeting with the West Bengal Government is to take place on June 4. Another round of consultations with representatives of the Assam Government is expected to take place on June 13-14. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar may hold a review meeting with his counterparts from these states in July this year as part of the exercise to give a boost to food production in this region.