Niti Aayog to Discuss States for New MSP Formula

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said the Government would take into account the actual input cost plus unpaid value of family labour while fixing the support price of crops at 50 percent higher than the cost of production. Government think-tank Niti Aayog will hold consultations with the states on March 9 to discuss a mechanism for fixing minimum support price 50 percent more than the cost of production, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh.

The Government in the Budget for 2018-19 last month announced that it will fix the MSP of Kharif 2019 crops at least 1.5 times than the cost of production. 

The Agriculture Minister last month had said that the Centre and Niti Aayog would hold deliberations with states to come out with a new mechanism to ensure that farmers get 1.5 times of the production cost of their crops. 

"Niti Aayog will hold a meeting with state governments on March 9 to discuss a mechanism to fix the MSP," Singh said on the sidelines of the Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Awards 2018 . 

On Genetically Modified (GM) Crops, the Minister said, "We are neither in favour nor against it. Without adopting GM crops, we have increased production of pulses and become almost self sufficient in it."  Similar efforts would be made in oilseeds, he said, while responding to Delhi University's former Vice Chancellor Deepak Pental's comments on use of new technology. Pental was given the lifetime achievement award at the event. 

The Minister said that the Government is committed to the development of agriculture and therefore higher budget allocation has been made to the sector. 

The budget allocation has been Rs 2.11 lakh crore in the current NDA government as against Rs 1.21 lakh crore in the previous five years, he added.