Punjab 'partially hails' Rs.50 hike in paddy MSP

The Punjab government on Wednesday "partially welcomed" the central government's decision to hike the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy by Rs.50 to Rs.1,410 per quintal.

"We partially welcome the centre's decision as the meagre MSP hike (3.7 percent) has not enthused paddy growers in Punjab at all," Harcharan Bains, advisor to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on national affairs and media, told IANS.

Official sources said Badal had sought an MSP of Rs.2,000 per quintal for paddy. MSP is the minimum price at which the government procurement agencies buy the grain from farmers.

Bains said the state had been demanding that MSP should be fixed on the basis of Swaminathan Commission report, which had recommended linking of MSP with the wholesale price index.

Justifying the demand for more MSP, the media advisor said there was a steep hike in the cost for agricultural inputs, which had increased the debt burden of farmers.

Bains said that the BJP's national manifesto before the Lok Sabha elections last year had promised to implement the Swaminathan Commission report.

The BJP is an alliance partner of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab, a major food grain producing state in India.

Paddy transplantation started in Punjab on June 15.

The Punjab government has been urging farmers to shift from the wheat-paddy cycle. Farmers are being offered benefits under various schemes to motivate them to diversify, especially move away from paddy since it requires lot of watering and power supply.

Under its agriculture diversification mission to conserve depleting groundwater, the Punjab government has announced that the area under paddy cultivation will be cut from the present 26.50 lakh hectares to 14.50 lakh hectares.

This 12 lakh hectares would be utilised for alternative crops like maize, sugarcane, cotton, pulses, fruits and vegetables, besides agro-forestry, in the next five years, said a Punjab agriculture department spokesman.