‘Why only sugar?’: Raju Shetti demands Centre to bring legislation to make MSP compulsory for all crops 

‘Legislation aimed to bring uniformity across states’

Though every government, including the Centre and state, talks about empowering farmers, nobody supports legislation for making MSP compulsory, he pointed out.

“The legislation has to be mooted by the Centre to bring uniformity across states and ensure its effectiveness. If left to individual states to take the call, it will defeat the stated objective,” he argued. It is not enough for individual states to push the legislation, he said.

“If the Maharashtra Government brings legislation on MSP, traders will stop procuring crops. Instead, they will look for alternatives in neighboring states to buy crops at lower prices. Therefore, there has to be a uniform legislation that is applicable and enforced across states,” the farmer leader noted.

Without such drastic measures, farmers will remain vulnerable and victims of traders and agents operating in the agriculture markets and sector, he warned.

On the feasibility and practicality aspects of such laws, Shetti said, “Why should it not work? In principle, MSP is announced every year for select major crops. When you have MSP, its stated purpose should be implementation. If MSP is not enforced, the Centre has to bring in legislation. It is a step forward towards its strict implementation in the larger interests of farmers”.

‘Sugar mills have to pay Fair Remuneration Price’

According to Shetti, the sugar sector has good legislation, which is strictly followed and implemented. “If it works for the sugar sector, why not other crops like soyabean, cotton, pulses, wheat, paddy, oilseeds, etc?”

The sugar mills have to pay the Fair Remuneration Price (FRP) to sugarcane farmers for the procurement of sugarcane. The FRP is announced every year. It comes under the Centre. Accordingly, sugar mills across the country, including Maharashtra, have to make the FRP payment to sugarcane cultivators.

The mechanism has helped both farmers and sugar mills and given certain stability to the sector.

Unlike sugar cane, soybean, pulses, and oilseeds, cotton is more vulnerable to the vagaries of nature. Also, it is cultivated by small and marginal farmers who make up 78 per cent. Without a mechanism, these farmers are forced into distress sales of their crops, and they need money to repay loans, recover input expenditure, and address other domestic needs.

At present, the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices decides MSPs for 23 commodities, including cereals, pulses, and oilseeds.

“In that sense, there is a fixed price. But when you don’t have monitoring and mechanism provision, farmers are left to market and traders’ manipulation. Given their financial constraints, they cannot hold the post-harvest stock for long and bargain. Here, traders take advantage of farmers,” he observed.