At least 12 states, including five ruled by the BJP, suggested the minimum support price (MSP) for wheat - in the range of Rs 2,200 to 8,258 per quintal for the rabi marketing season 2022-23 - higher than the MSP of Rs 2,015 per quintal declared by the Centre earlier this month. The Centre’s announcement of MSPs for six rabi crops on September 8 was on the lines of recommendations made by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) in its report on the ‘Price Policy for Rabi Crops: The Marketing Season 2022-23’. The wheat MSP saw an increase of just 2.03 percent, from Rs 1,975 to Rs 2015 per quintal, the lowest in the last 12 years. The report also shows that the states have suggested higher MSPs for five other rabi crops - barley, gram, lentil, rapeseed and mustard and safflower. Wheat is the major rabi crop. In the rabi marketing season 2021-22, nearly 50 lakh farmers availed of the wheat MSP. “There are variations in cost estimates provided by the states and CACP cost estimates. The main reasons for variations in these two sets of estimates are different methodologies and cost concepts used by the states and CACP,” the report said. Five states ruled by the BJP, including Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, and seven others - Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana and West Bengal - have suggested an MSP for wheat in the range of Rs 2,200 to Rs 8,258 per quintal. The MSP of Rs 1,635 per quintal for barley announced by the Centre is less than the amount suggested by Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh – they put in the range of Rs 1,700 to Rs 2,400 per quintal. Against Rs 5,230 per quintal for gram declared by the Centre, 10 states - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal - suggested a higher amount while Rajasthan and Jharkhand recommended a lower MSP. Among four states that recommended an MSP for lentil, only Bihar suggested a higher amount - at Rs 5,646 per quintal - than the Rs 5,500 declared by the Centre. Eight states - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Punjab, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal - suggested an MSP higher than Rs 5,050 per quintal announced by the Centre for rapeseed and mustard. Assam, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Odisha and Rajasthan recommended a lower MSP. Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana recommended the MSP for safflower in the range of Rs 5,500 to Rs 8,644 per quintal as against Rs 5,441 declared by the Centre.
