Govt MSP purchases chiefly driven by poor market prices the past few years

In other words, it is political compulsion, not political expediency, that has prompted the Centre to lift higher quantities of grain, pulses and other farm commodities

In order to reinforce its commitment to provide Minimum Support Price (MSP), the Central government has time and again shown to the protesting farmer, comparisons of its track record on the procurement of major cereals, pulses, oilseeds and cotton over the past few years, with that of the previous regime.

On paper and on the ground, there has been a marked improvement in both, the quantity and the value of cereals, pulses and oilseeds procured at MSP.

Data sourced from various official channels show that between 2016-17 and 2019-20, procurement of rice has risen 1.23 times by quantity and 1.76 times by