NEW DELHI, June 7: The Union Cabinet at its meeting on Wednesday has decided to hike the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for many agricultural products for the kharif marketing season at a rate which will be the highest in many years, Union Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal said.
The MSP for moong has been raised 10.4%, for sesame seeds 10.3%, long-staple cotton 10%, groundnut oil 9%, medium staple cotton 8.9% and paddy 7%.
The MSP for Jowar, Bajra, Ragi, Maize, Urad, Tur, Sunflower seeds and oil, among other items, have been raised in the range of 6% to 7%. The Union Cabinet approved ₹143 hike in paddy’s MSP to ₹2,183/quintal for 2023-24; and the highest increase in moong MSP at ₹8,558/quintal.
The cabinet also paid tributes to those killed in the Manipur violence and the Odisha train mishap and expressed sympathy with the near and dear ones of the victims in the two disasters.
Briefing the media Piyush Goyal said, “In agriculture, we have been fixing MSP from time to time based on the recommendations of the CACP [Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices]. The increase in MSP of kharif crops for this year is the highest compared to the previous years.” Farmers will benefit from the increase in the MSP at a time when retail inflation is on a declining trend, he added.
The support price of the ‘A’ grade variety of paddy has been hiked by ₹163 to ₹2,203 per quintal from ₹2,060, he said.
(Manas Dasgupta)