WHAT IS MSP?
- Minimum Support Price or MSP was introduced first by the Center in 1966-67. This was after India faced a major deficit in cereal production at the time of Independence. The less production was not able to meet the population’s high demand. Therefore, after struggling for over a decade, the government of India finally decided to go for extensive agricultural reforms. As a first step towards this agricultural reformation, the Minimum Support Price or MSP was introduced.
- The Minimum Support Price or MSP is a safety net for the farmers as it works towards protecting them from the uncertainties of the market and of the natural kind. The introduction of the Minimum Support Price or MSP was a revolutionary step for the agricultural industry of India, which transformed the country from a food deficit to a food surplus nation. Since then, MSP has proven to be of great help to the farmers to stay safe from financial fluctuations.
- When heading towards the Green revolution, it was realised that the Indian farmers needed more incentives for the production of food crops. This was necessary, especially to grow crops like Wheat and Paddy that needed a lot of labour. Therefore, in an effort to provide higher incentives to the farmers, which would also boost production, the Center decided to introduce the Minimum Support Price or MSP. The first-ever crop to get an MSP decided was wheat, which got an MSP fixed at 54 per quintal.
- Today, there are 23 crops that get the MSP. These crops include Bajra, Wheat, Maize, Paddy, Barley, Ragi, and Jowar, pulses like tur, chana, urad, moong, and masoor, oilseeds like safflower, mustard, niger seed, soya bean, groundnut, sesame, and sunflower. Other than these, commercial crops like cotton, copra, raw jute, and sugarcane are also provided with a Minimum Support Price or MSP.
WHY ARE FARMERS PROTESTING FOR MSP?
- The primary concern of the protesting farmers is that no law on MSP has been enacted yet, and that the Union government is turning a blind eye to their other demands despite repeated appeals. The MSP is the price at which the government promises, on paper, to procure agricultural produce from farmers. There are MSPs for 22 crops, primarily grains, pulses and oil seeds, paddy and copra. According to studies, only a small share of farmers in the country benefits from MSPs. Farmers accuse that even as the government promised to look into their demands during the earlier agitation, it has been going slow on its commitments.
- The Union government has repeatedly asserted that announcing a guaranteed MSP will not be possible. The Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda told the media that for a law on guaranteed MSP, the Centre would have to look at all sides.