To help farmers, MP govt sets up fund for non-MSP products

In a bid to mollify agitating farmers, the Madhya Pradesh government today set up a Rs 1,000 -crore Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) to compensate the loss incurred due to procurement of agriculture produce at market intervention rate.
The Rs 1,000-crore fund would be used for the agriculture produce not covered under the minimum support price (MSP) policy of the Centre, according to a government order issued here.
The fund, to be maintained by the MP State Agriculture Marketing Board, would be used to compensate the shortfall incurred due to the purchase of farm products at market intervention rate, it said.

However, the market intervention rate of agriculture produce will be declared by the PSF. And if there is a commodity, whose rate is lower in the market than the one declared by the fund, the state would meet the shortfall, a senior official said.
The order stated that half of this fund (Rs 500 crore) would be arranged by the state marketing development fund of Mandi Board, while the remaining would be allocated through the budget.
The Agriculture Production Commissioner would be the PSF chairperson, while the principal secretaries of agriculture, finance, cooperatives, horticulture and food processing, food and civil supplies, animal husbandry, water resource and fisheries departments would be its members.

Besides, the managing directors of State Warehousing and Logistics Corporation, State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd and State Agriculture Marketing Board would also be members of the new body.

Money from the fund would be utilised in accordance of the decisions taken by the state's Agriculture Cabinet, the order stated.
The government said the process of operating this fund and other guidelines would be issued separately.
Earlier this month, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had announced setting up of such a fund to help farmers in scenarios where prices of agriculture produce fluctuate and they incur losses.
The announcement was made in the midst of an agitation by cultivators.