Farmers' protest: MSP distorting cropping patterns, says WTO report

Amid demand by farmers on legalising the minimum support price (MSP), the World Trade Organization (WTO) has taken up a review of India’s trade policy, that states floor prices distort cropping patterns.

Distortion of cropping patterns is in favour of commodities such as wheat, rice, cotton, and sugar that are pro­cured by the central government at MSP and away from other items such as pulses, coarse grains, and oilseeds, said a report by the WTO Secretariat, written independently.

The practice of procurement from certain states has also resulted in regional disparities in production, the report taken up for review among other trade