Spend on agri schemes highest in 6 years

Centre spent over Rs 71 billion on existing farm market intervention schemes in FY18

As the Centre contemplates measures to give the freedom to states to intervene in agricultural markets if there is a price fall, including adopting Madhya Pradesh’s Price Deficiency Payment Scheme, the data shows that the government has spent more than Rs 71 billion on the existing market schemes till the middle of December, and that is among the highest in the past five-six years.

The Centre runs two programmes — Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) and Price Support Scheme (PSS) — to assist states to procure agricultural commodities if there is a price fall.

 

While the PSS is for