State pegs soya MSP @ Rs 4,800/quintal, writes to Centre

 

 

In a pro-farmer decision, the Madhya Pradesh Government has decided to request the Central Government to fix the minimum support price (MSP) of soyabean at Rs 4,800 per quintal. The State Government will write a letter to the Center in this regard. The State Cabinet on Tuesday decided in this regard. Farmers of the State are agitated over low price of soyabean and are demanding minimum procured to be pegged at Rs 6,000 to 8,000 per quintal. ‘The Hitavada’ raised the soyabean price issue on Monday with the headline ‘MSP Battle…’Soyabean farmers are protesting as prices of the commodity are falling in several mandis also known as Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs). The farmers are yet not ready to sell the prices below the MSP of Rs 4,892 per quintal fixed by the Centre for the 2024-25 crop year. Meanwhile, speaking to the media Union Agriculture Minister and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the Central Government is in constant touch with the State Government and the government has two schemes to procure soyabean on minimum support price. The crop, he said, had yet to arrive in the market and “We will approve the price as per demand of the state so that farmers can get a better price for the commodity.”

 

However, it is not clarified if the Government would raise the minimum support price to Rs 6,000 per quintal. The Union Government would ask the state governments to procure soyabean on Price Support Scheme (PSS). Madhya Pradesh is known as the soya bowl of India and produces more than 40-45 lakh quintals of soyabean. The PSS is a Union Government programme that aims to protect farmers from economic losses by procuring crops at the MSP when prices fall below that level. The PSS applies to notified pulses, oilseeds, and copra. Chouhan assured that the Centre would allow the Madhya Pradesh government to procure Soyabean under the PSS could be a big relief for the farmers of the State.