The Centre’s plan to provide minimum support price to potato and tomato would be an extremely difficult task as there is no standardisation, S. Narayan, former Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister, said.
“Rice and wheat are standard items and the government has been procuring them over a long period of time. But the case of potato and tomato is different with so many variants. To standardise and give the correct price would be difficult,” he pointed out.
Mr. Narayan was speaking at a seminar titled ‘Demystifying the Union Budget 2018,’ organised by The Women’s Christian College in association with Finmark Trainers.
Regular increase
He pointed out that in the UPA regime between 2004 and 2014, there was regular increase in the minimum support price and farmers were better off.
“After 2014, the minimum support price was not increased. But, the cost has gone up and there are several instances of farmers’ distress. One shot increase in the minimum support price is a good sign, though it might be inflationary for the common man,” Mr. Narayan said.
The budget proposal to provide technology for horticulture was a great idea, but the government needed to spell out its plan clearly.
