New Delhi: After the central government offered guaranteed support prices for pulses, corn and cotton in a bid to break a deadlock with protesting farmers, farmers are weighing their response to the offer. Trade Minister Piyush Goyal made the offer on Sunday evening said after week-long face-off between police and protesting farmers.
Sunday’s comments followed marathon talks with farmers’ unions after the protesters, who are demanding higher prices backed by law for nearly two dozen crops, were halted at a distance of about 200km from New Delhi.
Goyal said the government had proposed five-year contracts for a minimum support price to farmers who diversify their crops to grow pigeon peas, black matpe, red lentils and corn, paid by cooperative groups it promotes.
“These organisations will buy the produce and there will be no limit on quantity,” Goyal told reporters in the northern city of Chandigarh, adding that a similar price guarantee would also be offered to farmers who diversify and produce cotton.
The farmers’ unions said they would decide on the proposal within a day or two, after reaching a consensus among themselves.
Switching more crops to pulses from those such as rice and wheat that require more water will not only benefit a depleting water table but also help cut back on imports of pulses.
Talking about the proposal, Devinder Sharma, agriculture policy expert and a food and trade policy analyst, told The Indian Express, “This is much short of the demands of the farmers. I find it just an extension of the Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM AASHA) scheme that aims at ensuring fair prices for farmers and their produce, for which the procurement process needs to be strengthened. The proposal mentions three to four crops. What about the other crops like spices, vegetables, plantations, and oil seeds?”
Renowned agricultural economist Dr Sardara Singh Johl highlighted that the chief issue is procurement. “MSP on 23 crops is already there, but the problem is procurement. As of now, the farmer is selling a large part of his produce of maize, cotton and pulses below the MSP. Hence, if the government ensures to buy the crops on MSP without quantity limitation, it is a good step. Farmers should seriously consider this proposal and the government should also stand by their word to implement it. One-third of the farmers are marginal growers and do it for self-consumption only,” he said.
The world’s biggest importer of pulses, India has struggled to hold back increases in the prices of pigeon peas and black matpe.
Domestic corn demand has also been rising as the poultry and ethanol industries boost consumption.
