BHUBANESWAR: Amid intense farmers’ protest across the country over the new farm laws, the state cabinet on Wednesday passed a resolution to move the Centre reiterating its demand to implement recommendations of the MS Swaminathan committee on minimum support price (MSP) of all crops.
One of the major recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers led by noted agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan was that the MSP should be at least 50 per cent more than the weighted average cost of production. In 2015, the state government had assessed the cost of production per quintal of paddy at Rs 2,344.
The state government’s decision to recommend the Centre to implement the MS Swaminathan Committee report, amid the farmers’ unrest, is seen a smart move by the Naveen Patnaik government to win confidence of the farming community in Odisha, where around 70 per cent people depend on agriculture. Ensuring MSP is also one of the major demands of the agitating farmers.
The state government considers that the MSP is an important tool for income generation of the farmers. The income of farmers needs to keep pace with the growth of income in other sectors and the rise in the costs of cultivation. The MSP of any agricultural produce has to be fixed in a holistic manner so as to make farming operations profitable and to safeguard the farmers against all types of risks, said the resolution.
The state assembly had earlier passed unanimous resolutions twice in 2017 and again in 2018 to increase the MSP of paddy to Rs 2,930 per quintal, at least 25 per cent more than the cost of production. The MSP of paddy at present is Rs 1,868 per quintal for common variety and Rs 1,880 for grade-A variety.
“The state government has taken many initiatives for the welfare of farmers. The state government is working with absolute commitment to double the farmers’ income. We have focused on rapid growth in agriculture sector. Our objective is to make farming profitable and create massive employment opportunities in this sector,” said parliamentary affairs minister Bikram Keshari Arukh after the cabinet meeting.
Stating that the MSP must be fixed on realistic basis, Arukh said MSP is a basic right of the farmers. “If the farmer remains in uncertainty over the value of his produce, then the farmers and farming including our economy will come to a crisis. While almost all the sectors are facing a slowdown during the Corona pandemic, it’s only the farm sector has helped our economy to survive. Therefore, farmers’ income must grow proportionate to the growth of income in other sectors,” he added.
The BJD had earlier opposed the Centre’s farm bills in both houses of the parliament.