Chhattisgarh seeks hike in paddy support price

Chhattisgarh Monday asked the central government to raise the paddy support price up to Rs.2,100 per quintal, calling the current hike "insufficient" and "disappointing" for the farmers.

In his letter to union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, state Agriculture Minister Chandrashekhar Sahu said the increase of only Rs.60 per quintal in the support price was insufficient, much to the disappointment of paddy-producing farmers of Chhattisgarh and of the nation as a whole.

Noting that the state government has drawn the attention of central government to the issues of inflation and increasing cost of cultivation from time to time, Sahu said Chief Minister Raman Singh has been advocating a hike in minimum support price in the larger interest of farmers, as per an official statement.

"On one side, the anti-farmers policies of the central government are resulting in unexpected rise in food grain production cost and the other side, the central government has turned a blind eye to the agony of farmers and is continuing to take anti-farmers decisions one after the other. If this continues, it will become difficult to associate the new generation with the agricultural field," he said.

The cabinet Thursday approved the agriculture ministry's proposal to hike the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy by Rs.60, from Rs.1,250 per quintal to Rs.1,310 per quintal.

Many states have demanded the MSP be raised further.