Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan assured the Rajya Sabha on Friday that the Modi government will purchase all farm produce at the Minimum Support Price (MSP). His statement came during the Question Hour, as he addressed concerns related to MSP for farmers.
Chouhan’s remarks were made on the same day that farmers embarked on a foot march to Delhi, demanding legal backing for MSP. He emphasized that the government’s commitment to buying all farmers’ produce at MSP is a guarantee under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also criticized previous governments for not implementing the M.S. Swaminathan Commission’s recommendation to provide farmers with 50% more than the cost of production, citing records of past ministers, including former Agriculture Ministers Sharad Pawar and K.V. Thomas.
Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar asked Chouhan to submit the relevant documents to support his claims, to which the minister agreed. Chouhan further asserted that since 2019, the government has calculated MSP with a 50% profit margin over production costs and is already buying crops like paddy, wheat, jowar, and soybeans at this rate.
In response to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s questions on MSP, Chouhan reiterated the government’s commitment to fixing MSP at a profit of more than 50% and assured that the government would purchase farmers’ produce at this price. He also highlighted how the Modi government has made significant efforts to provide remunerative prices to farmers, unlike the Congress-led government, which he claimed had failed to do so in the past.
Chouhan also addressed the issue of farm loan waivers, with RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha asking if the government was considering such a framework. The minister responded that the government is focused on increasing farmers’ income rather than providing loan waivers. He outlined the government’s plan to increase production, reduce costs, and provide compensation for crop loss, while promoting agricultural diversification and natural farming to raise farmers’ income to a level where they no longer need loan waivers.
