A right to sell at MSP: CACP wants legislation to ensure farmers benefit

The government's price-fixation panel backs legalising farmers' right to sell at MSP

With the hike in minimum support prices (MSPs) and the government going on an overdrive to give publicity to it to build up a pro-farmer image before the coming elections in three states, the question is how to ensure that farmers reap the benefits.

Unless there is a regular procurement mechanism, MSPs will continue to have a notional value except, perhaps, for rice.

The Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP), the body which fixes MSPs for 23 kharif and rabi crops, has suggested a way out. It is for bringing in legislation conferring the “right to sell at MSP”,