After the recent hike in minimum support price (MSP) of pulses and oilseeds, a taskforce appointed by the Maharashtra government today requested the Centre to consider similar increase for cotton, soybean and paddy crops as well.
"In the drought-hit regions where farmer suicides and agrarian crisis are serious issues, land under cultivation for cotton and soybean is more than 4 million and 3 million hectares, respectively.
"An MSP hike for both crops is necessary," Chairman of the state task force Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavalambi Mission (VNSSM) Kishore Tiwari said.
"The task force will submit a special petition to the Union government seeking a special bonus for cotton and soybean," he added.
Tiwari also demanded increase in the MSP of paddy on the lines of 2009-10 when support price was Rs 950 per quintal against estimated cost of cultivation of Rs 670 per quintal, according to the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices.
"This translates to a profitability of nearly 42 per cent for farmers," he said.
In 2015, support price was Rs 1,410 per quintal against cultivation cost of Rs 1,324 per quintal, which was too low for sustenance, he said.
As per the Economic Survey report released in February, the average annual income of the median farmer from cultivation, net of production cost, is less than Rs 20,000 in 17 states.
"That translates to an income of less than Rs 2,000 per month," he said.
The Centre earlier this week hiked the MSP of arhar, urad and moong by up to Rs 425 per quintal for the kharif season starting September.
It also announced bonus on oilseeds while making a modest increase of Rs 60 in paddy MSP to Rs 1,470 per quintal.
