Rs 35,968 crore! Is the estimated amount that Indian farmers growing seven major kharif cereal and pulses that includes paddy, maize, soybean, groundnut and cotton stand to lose this year because of prices falling below the government-fixed Minimum Support Prices (MSP).
The figure could swell to over Rs 2,00,000 crore if the loss is estimated from the actual cost of production plus 50 per cent profit as assured by the NDA government in 2014 General Election, a calculation done by All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), a conglomeration of over 150 small and big farmers organisations said.
“The number