Support price of arhar, moong hiked by up to Rs 900/qtl

While the MSP of 'arhar' has been increased by Rs 650 per quintal to Rs 3,850 per quintal, the support price of moong has been raised by Rs 900 per quintal to Rs 4,400 per quintal.

"The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved MSP of arhar and moong for 2012-13 season. MSP of arhar has ben fixed at Rs 3,850 per quintal and Moong at Rs 4,400 per quintal," an official statement said.

MSPs of arhar (pigeon pea) stood at Rs 3,200/quintal and moong (green gram) at Rs 3,500/quintal in 2011-12 season.

The support price of arhar and moong were not announced earlier as the CCEA had last month deferred the decision and directed the Agriculture Ministry to redo the calculations.

The Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP) has lowered its suggested support price for moong and arhar to Rs 4,400 a quintal and Rs 3,850/quintal, respectively.

The CACP had earlier recommended the MSP of moong at Rs 4,500/quintal and tur at Rs 4,000/quintal for 2012-13.

As pulses being short in supply, the CCEA had asked to rework the MSP of moong and tur on lower side to keep retail prices under control.

India imports pulses to meet the domestic production shortfall of 3-4 million tonne. Pulses output stagnated at around 15 million tonne for some time, but crossed 17 million tonne in the last two years, due to hike in support price.