The Haryana Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department gave this information in response to an RTI application filed by a Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) activist Rakesh Bains. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)
In 2016-2017, one quintal of wheat cost a Haryana farmer Rs 2,219 to produce, Rs 594 more than the MSP of Rs 1,625 per quintal fixed by the Centre, according to the state government’s own admission. The Haryana Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department gave this information in response to an RTI application filed by a Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) activist Rakesh Bains. “The figures are enough to show the growing crisis in agriculture and miserable condition of farmers,” said Bains.
Though the input cost was computed by the government, Haryana Agriculture and Farmers Minister Om Prakash Dhankar, played down the issue. “There has been a tendency among the states since long to recommend impractical higher prices of crops hoping to get high MSP from the Centre. Now, we have asked Haryana Kisan Aayog to evaluate the production cost of crops in real terms. And we would try to offer the MSP as 50 per cent above the production cost,” said Dhankar, who was earlier national president of BJP Kisan Morcha.
The information provided in reply to the RTI query says the Haryana government had recommended Rs 2,611 per quintal price of wheat but the the Centre’s Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) recommended Rs 1,625 per quintal. The Centre fixed this as the MSP.
The department has provided figures of past three years which shows similar trend in the production cost and MSP during 2014-15 to 2016-17. In 2014-2015, the Haryana agriculture officials had evaluated the production cost of wheat at Rs 1,943 per quintal but the MSP was fixed at Rs 1,450.
The farmers, who produce the crops such as gram, barley, paddy and maize, also face similar fate if the input cost and returs are compared on the basis of the MSP.
For example, a farmer’s total input cost was evaluated at tha rate of Rs 5270 per quintal for gram but the MSP was fixted at Rs 4,000 for 2016-17. The Haryana Government, in June 2015, had sent its recommendations to CACP seeking 30 per cent profit over the cost of production for Rabi crops including wheat, Barley, Gram and Rabi Oilseeds for 2016-17.
“While evaluating the cost of production, we also include rent of land, interest taken from banks for agriculture activities apart from ploughing; sowing, cutting and processing undertaken with the machinery ,” an official told The Indian Express.
BKU Haryana unit president Gurnam Singh Chaduni said, “The input cost for crops is very high in Haryana and Punjab in comparison to other states. The CACP recommends prices of crops on the basis of average production cost evaluated by all states. At least the government should fix the MSP 50% above the prices suggested by the CACP.”
“The figures of three years show that the promise of double income of farmers is just a jumla,” alleges Chaduni.
The RTI information shows that the Centre has fixed prices of crops mostly on the basis of CACP’s recommendations during past three years.
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