Foodgrain procurement under MSP regime not as costly as feared; no rush

The Centre has declared MSP for 23 crops including cereals, pulses, oilseeds and millets

The government has allayed the fears of exorbitant cost of managing the procurement of farm produce under the proposed new minimum support price (MSP) mechanism.

Officials said the mechanism could be applicable for the procurement of 12-15 million tonnes of food crops, largely pulses and millets.

The remaining crops, for which the government declares MSP, will either come under the existing procurement mechanism as in rice and wheat or oilseeds and maize, whose prices have traditionally been more than the MSP barring few years, say 2017.

The Centre declares MSP for almost 23 crops that includes, cereals, pulses, oilseeds and