MP does away with Centre's idea, announces bonus on maize

Junking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's idea to do away with bonus on foodgrains, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has made budgetary announcements on maize.

The Union government had recently told Food Corporation of India to restrict procurement of foodgrains from states that offer bonuses on minimum support price (MSP) to farmers.

State finance minister Jayant Malaiyya, who presented the state budget on Tuesday, announced that a decision has been made to offer Rs 150 per quintal bonus on maize so that the crop, mainly grown by tribal farmers, can fetch a reasonable price. The minister informed the assembly that a budgetary provision has been made in this regard to the tune of Rs 1,050 crore.
 

Centre had reasoned that bonuses inflate procurement prices and create shortages in open market apart from financially straining it's subsidy bill.

State-owned wheat procurement centres have attracted farmers in the last five years.

The state had this year procured 7.4 million tonnes of wheat on MSP after it offered Rs 150 per quintal bonus on MSP of Rs 1400 per quintal.

An amount of more than Rs 11,000 crore had been disbursed against procurement and more than Rs 1000 crore went to farmers in form of bonus. The minister informed the assembly that wheat , paddy and gram productivity have gone up to 2976 kg, 2156kg and 1202 kg per hectare respectively in 2013-14. The production of wheat, paddy and gram had stood at 1895 kg, 969 kg and 980 kg per hectare respectively in 2008-09.

The wheat production, he said, has gone up to 17.47 million metric tonnes in 2013-14 as against 16.12 million metric tonnes in 2012-13.

Similarly, paddy production is expected to touch 5 million metric tonnes in 2014-15 as against 4.7 million metric tonnes registered in 2013-14.

The state has also offered Rs 150 per quintal bonus on paddy procurement.