The Centre’s decision to raise the minimum support price for paddy by Rs 50 to Rs 1410 has left farmers here disappointed.
The Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday announced an MSP of Rs 1,410 per quintal of ordinary paddy and Rs 1,450 per quintal of fine paddy.
The Consortium of Indian Farmers Associations (CIFA) leader, Mr. P.Chengal Reddy said a mere Rs 50 increase in MSP was not acceptable to farmers in Andhra Pradeshl. The BJP had in its election manifesto said it would fix MSP at cost of production plus 50 per cent.
By breaking its promise, the Union Government has lost the confidence of farmers here, he said.
Mopidevi paddy farmer Tummala Vishal Rao said ordinary variety paddy normally fetched Rs 1,060 a bag (75 kg), or Rs 1,413.33 a quintal. He got a yield of 27 bags per acre and earned Rs 28,620 an acre, but his expenditure itself would be Rs 23,000.
Owner-farmer, Mr Vishal Rao said he would barely manage to recover his investment but then, but 70 per cent of paddy growers are tenant farmers, who have to pay a lease cost of 20 bags and would not break even unless their yields were 40-45 bags an acre.
YSR Congress Farmers’ Wing Convenor, Mr. M.V.S. Nagireddy pointed out that the UPA 1 government had hiked the MSP for paddy by 83 per cent (from Rs 550 to Rs 1,000) and UPA 2 had increased it by 31 per cent (from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,310). The NDA government, in contrast, increased MSP by a mere 7.5 per cent in two years. The NDA was a harsh critic of the UPA, but its own performance was worse, Mr. Reddy said.
