Govt mulls to increase MSP & bonus for rabi pulses

In an attempt to address the issue of escalating prices of pulses, the government is all set to raise minimum support price (MSP) for pulses of rabi season and bonus for farmers. According to sources, the Agriculture Ministry has moved a cabinet note in this regard suggesting 5-10 per cent increase in the MSP for chana and masoor, the two major pulses of rabi season.

“Also the government is mulling to increase bonus for farmers from Rs 275 to Rs 425 on chana and masoor pulses. The final decision in this regard would be taken at a next Cabinet meeting,” sources said.

The decision to increase MSP and bonus has been taken to encourage farmers to increase their sowing area to contain the skyrocketing prices of lentils during  peak season. A similar initiative had been taken by the Centre with pulses of kharif season such as arhar, urad and moong.

That move yielded rich dividends.  Increased  MSP and bonus for farmers ensured that the sowing area of arhar, urad and moong increased manifold.

According to experts, the bonus scheme on pulses will definitely boost production. “There have been several instances of farmers not using their land for pulse cultivation as they didn’t get a good price for their produce. The bonus scheme of the Centre would now enable them to get a better price for their produce in mandis,” said Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, who heads the Grain Merchants’ Association of Bengaluru.

“This is expected to give a strong price signal to farmers to increase acreage and invest for an increase in productivity of pulses. It shows that government is taking every such decision which can be helpful in safeguarding the interests of farmers and doubling their income,” Lahoti added.

Once finalised, the move will benefit farmers of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka as these states are major chana producing states in the country.

The Centre has been forced to think of a bonus scheme for pulse farmers,  as efforts to increase availability through buffer stocks and imports had failed  to rein in prices of pulses including ‘chana dal’ in Delhi and parts of north India, the retail price, on average, had peaked at around Rs 190-Rs 200 per kg.

Grappling with demand-supply issues vis-a-vis pulses and oilseeds and to reduce dependence on imports, the government on June 1  made a fervent appeal to farmers to target higher productivity of these commodities and hiked the MSP of kharif (summer) pulses and oilseeds.

In the country, pulses are cultivated on marginal lands under rain fed conditions as only around 15 per cent of the area under pulses has assured irrigation. Due to high fluctuations in pulse production and prices, farmers are not too keen on taking up pulse cultivation despite high wholesale pulse prices in recent years.