MSP booster's impact differs by the crop: Here's what the data says

A Business Standard analysis looks at the MSP of these five crops and also wheat and paddy (the ones which few among the five aim to replace)

To placate the agitating farmers, the Central government has mooted a proposal to purchase five crops (three pulses — tur, arhar and masoor — and maize and cotton) over the next five years at minimum support price (MSP) under a contractual agreement.

A Business Standard analysis of the MSP of these five crops in 2014-15 (the first year of the BJP government) and 2022-23, and the percentage change in the latter over the former shows an interesting trend. Data shows that while MSP on these crops increased between 49.7 per cent and 78.8 per cent (see chart), the acreage under these was up as low as 0.9 per cent (for cotton) and as high as 23.5 (for Urad).
 

 

It was a different story in the case of wheat and paddy, which continue to be sown on the largest area in the country. While paddy MSP was up by half, acreage was up 8.43 per cent. The acreage under wheat, meanwhile, declined 0.19 per cent despite a 46.5 per cent increase in MSP.