Ineffective solution: Latest MSPs for crops will aggravate farm distress

Except in the case of paddy and wheat, minimum support price has yet to offer remunerative prices

At a time when farmers in the country are protesting against meagre returns on their produce and are demanding loan waivers, the government's pricing policy for the 2017 kharif crops might worsen their plight. The new minimum support prices (MSPs) for major kharif crops, communicated discreetly to the states instead of being announced formally from New Delhi, are only marginally higher than those of the previous season. What makes them worse is that the new MSPs, notably for cotton, moong and sunflower seed, are lower than the actual expenses incurred in cultivation, as calculated by the Commission for Agricultural Costs