Problem of plenty

Procurement alone will not address farm woes

Going by the preliminary estimates released by the agriculture ministry, the country is poised for another record kharif grain harvest of over 150.5 million tonnes. The previous best was 149.5 million tonnes last year. This should help contain inflation, especially food inflation. But there is a downside to it as well. The over-supply, if not managed well, may depress the rates of farm goods to below the government-fixed lowest threshold — the minimum support prices (MSPs) —particularly when fresh produce starts arriving in the market. That would hurt the interests of the farmers, who are agitating for making MSPs legally