Following a cabinet resolution on Wednesday, the Centre increased the minimum selling price (MSP) for several kharif crops for the summer-sown season by up to 6%.
MSP stands for Minimum Support Price, which is a price set by the Centre for Agriculture to avoid distress sales by signaling a minimum rate for private dealers.
The government buys vast amounts of grains from farmers at MSP pricing and distributes them to beneficiaries through the public distribution system(PDS), which is administered by the state-owned Food Corporation of India.
The government raises crop minimum support prices twice a year, once before the winter sowing season (rabi) and again before the summer sowing season (kharif).
According to a report released in March by the agriculture ministry, kharif crops such as rice have been planted on 56.50 lakh hectares across the country for the 2021-22 kharif season.
Following the harvest of rabi crops, farmers begin harvesting kharif crops. These crops are rainfed, and sowing begins in June with the arrival of the southwest monsoon.
As per data issued by the agriculture ministry in March, the kharif season saw 36.87 lakh hectares of rice planted, up 5.25 lakh hectares from the 2020-21 season. West Bengal, Telangana, Karnataka, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and other states have started growing kharif rice.
The MSP increase comes as protests against the three agriculture policies continue. Farmers have urged that the government pass laws ensuring that all farmers receive a remunerative MSP.
