MSP hike will encourage people to take up farming: Minister

Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik today said that the Centre's move to hike the Minimum Support Price of paddy and other crops would encourage people to go for farming.

"The Union government has increased MSP for paddy by Rs 200 per quintal which will increase farm profits. A farmer was earning, on an average, Rs 2-3 lakh annually from his paddy field. The profit will increase further now," Naik told reporters today.

He said that farmers, who had abandoned their lands, should get back to farming as it had become profitable to do so.

"Considering the incentives the Narendra Modi government had introduced for the agricultural sector, farmers would be able to double their income by 2022," Naik claimed.

He said that farmers were getting proper guidance on crop cultivation as part of various schemes launched by the Union government.

He added that MLAs and leaders from Goa taking up the 'agriculture challenge', and venturing into paddy fields and helping farmers plant saplings after the onset of monsoon, would create awareness about agriculture.

The Union government yesterday hiked the minimum support price for paddy by a steep Rs 200 per quintal as it looked to fulfil its poll promise to give farmers 50 per cent more rate than their cost of production.