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| Centre for raising paddy support price | |
| Press Trust of India / New Delhi July 1, 2009, 1:00 IST | |
The Agriculture Ministry has proposed a minimum support price of Rs 950 per quintal for paddy, up by Rs 50 from last year, while prescribing holding the rate for cotton at the year-ago level.
“The ministry is in favour of fixing the MSP of the common variety of paddy at Rs 950 a quintal and that of grade-A variety at Rs 980. Similarly, it wants the MSP of cotton to be at the same level as last year,” a senior government official told PTI. The ministry’s proposal is in step with recommendations of the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, which suggests support prices for different farm commodities, the official said.
A note to this effect has been circulated among other ministries concerned for their opinion and then the proposal will be placed before the Cabinet for approval, he added.
In August last year, the government had fixed the MSP of paddy at Rs 850 a quintal for the common variety and Rs 880 for the grade A variety. Later, it announced a Rs 50-bonus per quintal over-and-above the MSP.
The MSP of cotton witnessed a more substantial rise. The support price of cotton was raised to Rs 3,000 per quintal for long staple variety in 2008-09 from Rs 2,030 a quintal the previous year.
The MSP of medium staple cotton was raised to Rs 2,500 from Rs 1,800 per quintal during the review period.
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