Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) markets CottonThis time the farmers selling soybean, paddy and jowar crops bumper earnings Key’s. The special thing is that from October to December 2022, farmers have earned an additional Rs 8,241.6 crore on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) price. Due to this, there is a wave of happiness among the farmers. While the farmers associated with Urad, Moong, Bajra and Ragi could not even get MSP.
The official Agmarknet portal has released this report after averaging the arrivals and all India mandi (market) prices in the last three months. This data shows that the price of cotton was ₹8,326/quintal, which is 37% higher than its MSP of Rs 6,080 per quintal (medium variety). Similarly, soyabean was sold at Rs 5,051 per quintal, which is 17.5 per cent higher than the MSP of Rs 4,300. At the same time, paddy was sold at an average of Rs 2,171 per quintal, which is 6 percent more than the MSP of Rs 2,040. Whereas, the average mandi rate of jowar was Rs 3,092 per quintal, which was 4% higher than the MSP of Rs 2,970.
Now the price has gone up to Rs 5,339 per quintal.
According to Agri News, the cotton farmers of Telangana are worried that the prices of their crop are falling. Officials say that there has been a decline of about Rs 500 per quintal between the months of November and December. In some markets, the price went up or down by Rs 800 per quintal in a single day. An official said that if the rates fall below the MSP, the government will have to intervene. But it seems that cotton prices will remain high for at least one to two months. He gave the example of soybean, whose price has increased from Rs 5,254 per quintal in December to Rs 5,339 per quintal now.
Production cost A2+ derived from family labor
Around 1% less than the MSP was paid for tur, maize and groundnut in the mandi. The price of Urad was 11% less than the MSP. Also, the prices of moong and bajra were 14% less than the MSP. According to the data, ragi was sold at a price less than 30 per cent of the MSP. In the absence of legal guarantee, farmers are estimated to have suffered a loss of Rs 568 crore. However, as per calculations by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), they have received more than the cost of production (A2+family labour).
Only the price of ragi saw a decline of more than 30 percent. For Urad, Moong and Bajra, the ROI is not that bad, as the MSP is based on a minimum 50% return on cost. At the same time, the increase in commodity prices after the Russia-Ukraine war has shown that the legal guarantee of MSP will not harm the exchequer.
Want the best price and protection from price changes
Last month, NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand spoke about agriculture in a conference. He had said that the MSP of crops can help farmers get stable prices, but fair competition in the market is the only way to get the best price. Responding to farmers’ request to make MSP a legal right, he said that farmers want the best price for their crops and protection from price changes.
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