The Standing Committee on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing, on December 17, recommended the implementation of a legally binding Minimum Support Price (MSP) in India. It also urged the agriculture department to declare a roadmap for its implementation at the earliest.
Implementation of MSP to farmers as a legal guarantee was essential not only for safeguarding farmers’ livelihoods but also for promoting rural economic growth and enhancing national food security, said the parliamentary panel headed by Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi.
“With assured income through MSP, farmers are more likely to invest in their agricultural practices, leading to increased productivity and sustainability in farming. This investment can also contribute to long-term food security for the nation,” it added.
The Standing Committee comprised of 30 members of Parliament: 13 from the Bharatiya Janata Party, five from Congress (including chairperson Channi), three from Samajwadi Party, two from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and one each from Nationalist Congress Party, All India Trinamool Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackrey), Communist Party of India and one independent.
The recommendations are significant as these come at a time when farmer unions have been protesting at the Shambu and Khanauri posts on the Punjab-Haryana border for their long-standing demand of a legally binding MSP.
MSP is a guaranteed amount paid to farmers when the government procures their produce. It is meant to act as a safety net if the market price falls below the price the government has set. MSP is declared by the government before the beginning of every crop season.
Usually, the Centre fixes MSP for 22 agricultural commodities. But assured procurement mostly happens only for rice and wheat.
The panel’s report also pointed out that procurement was 0.5 per cent out of 100 per cent. “For example, we procured in 2022-24, 23 per cent of wheat but in terms of gram procurement we only procured 0.37 per cent. In terms of rapeseeds, we procured 9.19 per cent. We did not procure sunflower. We procured very little for masar daal, 14.08 per cent,” it said.
The committee strongly recommend that the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare declare a roadmap for implementation of MSP that can play a crucial role in reducing farmer suicides in India by providing financial stability, protecting against market volatility, alleviating debt burdens, and improving overall mental health among farmers.
The MSP can help stabilise food production levels by ensuring that farmers receive fair prices, the committee noted.
“Consistent income allows farmers to plan better and maintain production without the fear of market fluctuations undermining their efforts. This would also allow the central government to plan its finances accordingly and subsequently, allow a smooth transition,” it said.
Another crucial recommendation was increasing the support given under PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi) scheme to Rs 12,000 per annum from the present Rs 6,000.
An income support of Rs 6,000 is provided to all eligible landholding farmer families per year in three four-monthly instalments of Rs 2,000 under the scheme.
The parliamentary panel asked the department whether it has any plans to link PM-KISAN with inflation as five years have passed since its launch. To this, the department replied in the negative.
The committee pointed out how the share of agriculture in fund allocation by the Centre fell to 2.5 per cent in 2024-25, from 3.5 per cent of the total outlay in 2020-21. Citing this, it recommended an increase in budgetary allocations to agriculture.
Interestingly, the committee also pointed out a contradiction in different government schemes—like natural farming and Namo Drone Didi scheme for application of liquid fertilisers and pesticides—asking it to avoid schemes working against one another and negating the desired impact.
It asked the department as to how it plans to develop synergies between conventional and natural farming since on one hand it was promoting natural farming and on the other it aimed to enhance fertigation by providing 15,000 drones to selected self-help groups (SHGs) under Namo Drone Didi scheme.