Media Monitor
Agriculture Industry
Maharashtra begins kharif procurementedit
Procurement of moong (green gram) and urad (black gram) has commenced in some pockets of Maharashtra, as the state is busy rolling out the price-deficiency support scheme PM-AASHA, under which support prices are at least 1.5 times the cost of production. According to the state agriculture department, some 40,575 farmers have registered for selling urad at MSP, 26,990 for moong and 45,504 for soyabean.
Using MSP as the only mode to intervene on crop prices won’t work, say expertsedit
The fall in food prices means that 9 crops are currently below the minimum support price. For some crops the prices are about 6-7 percent below MSP but for about 5 others crops, the selling price is more than 20 percent below the MSP and in some areas even 50 percent. While this is good for urban poor and rural landless labour, this has led to rural distress, especially among farmers.