14 of 15 states had asked for higher MSP for paddy than what Centre announced

A report of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), based on which the government announces the MSPs for various crops, shows that all 15 states and UTs had suggested the paddy MSP in the range of Rs 2,000 per quintal to Rs 4,513 per quintal, on the basis of their production cost projection.

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These states and UTs are Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal.

Out of these, only Jammu and Kashmir suggested a lower paddy MSP than the one declared by the Centre, shows the CACP’s ‘Price Policy for Kharif Crops Of 2022-23 Season’ report.

In fact, the paddy MSP suggested by Jammu and Kashmir (Rs 2,000 per quintal) was the lowest among the 15 states and UTs.

The highest — Rs 4,513 per quintal — was suggested by Telangana.

The report shows that 6 states — Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand (all ruled by BJP) — did not suggest any figure for the paddy MSP for 2022-23.

Paddy, a principal crop of the kharif season, is grown on one-third of the entire area under all foodgrain crops and contributes about 40 per cent to the country’s foodgrain basket.

As per the Agriculture Ministry, out of the normal estimated area of 126.22 million hectares and production of 278.79 million tonnes (average of 2015-16 to 2019-20), paddy (both kharif and rabi) accounted for 43.82 million hectares and 112.44 million tonnes.

West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Assam are the main paddy growing states. The MSP on the crop is significant because 1.17 crore farmers benefited from it during the kharif marketing season 2021-22.

“Upto 29.05.2022, a quantity of 810.05 LMT of Paddy (includes Kharif Crop 754.69 LMT and Rabi Crop 55.37 LMT) has been procured, benefiting 117.05 Lakh farmers with MSP value of Rs.1,58,770.64 crore,” the Union Food Ministry said in a May 30 statement.

On June 8, the Centre had announced MSP for all mandated kharif crops including paddy. The MSP of paddy (common) was increased by 5.15 per cent from Rs 1,940 per quintal in 2021-22. The increase in absolute terms, of Rs 100, is the highest since 2018-19.

Back then, the government had announced a hike of Rs 200 per quintal — from Rs 1,550 per quintal in 2017-18 — to implement its decision of fixing the MSP at “a level of at least 50 per cent over the All-India weighted”.

As for paddy (grade A), the price for 2022-23 is 5.1 per cent higher than the Rs 1,960 per quintal in 2021-22.

Like paddy, the majority of states have also suggested a higher MSP for other kharif crops.

For instance, five states — Andhra Pradesh (Rs 3,334 per quintal), Gujarat (Rs 5,000), Karnataka (Rs 5,651), Maharashtra (Rs 4,331) and Telangana (Rs 7,712) — suggested a higher MSP for Jowar than the one declared by the Union government.

The Centre had declared an MSP of Rs 2,970 for Jowar (hybrid) and Rs 2,990 for jowar (maldandi) for 2022-23. Only one state, Tamil Nadu (Rs 2,940), has suggested a lower MSP for jowar.

In case of Bajra, too, Tamil Nadu (Rs 2,318 per quintal) has suggested a lower MSP than the one announced by the Centre (Rs 2,350 per quintal). Five other states have suggested a higher bajra MSP.

The Centre has declared Tur (Arhar) and Urad MSP at Rs 6,600 per quintal, while the states have suggested tur and urad MSPs in the range of Rs 6,500-Rs 10,880 per quintal and Rs 6,700-Rs 13,679 quintal, respectively.

For cotton, the Centre has announced MSPs at Rs 6,080 per quintal for Medium Staple cotton and Rs 6,380 for Long Staple cotton, while the states have suggested the MSP in the range of Rs 6,026- Rs 15,890.