In line with an earlier announcement of offering Minimum Support Price to vegetables in Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has asked his officers to submit a report on it within two days.
“Our farmers toil hard in the fields but middlemen pocket a chunk of profits,” said CM Chouhan during a meeting with senior officers in Bhopal on Monday evening. “We need a mechanism so that the farmers get justified prices for their produce and difference between the retail and wholesale price in minimal,” he added.
The farmers sell a particular vegetable for Rs 15-20 per kg in mandis and the same is sold to consumers for Rs 50-60 per kg, said the 61-year-old chief minister. “How this gap could be narrowed should be discussed,” he said.
Further, Chouhan asserted that his government wants farmers to get justified returns on their produce and that should be done upon studying the MSP mechanisms prevalent in other states.
The officers present at the meeting told the Chief Minister that states like Kerala have implemented the MSP mechanism for vegetables and have begun the registration process for farmers.
Chouhan has directed officers of Animal Husbandry, Agriculture and other departments to make surprise inspections at mandis to assess at what prices are the farmers’ produce being bought and paid for.
In order to stop the exploitation of farmers, Agriculture minister Kamal Patel had in October said that his department was working towards offering the MSP so that the profit margin of farmers increases by 50%.
Recently, the Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, had announced floor prices for 16 vegetable varieties, making it the first state to have a fixed MSP for vegetables. The announcement came into effect from November 1.
The floor price has been fixed at 20% above the production cost and the Kerala govt has affirmed to buy produce at MSP even if the market prices crash. The plan also has room for regular revision in floor prices.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here
Comments
0 comment