A parliamentary panel has asked the government to take urgent steps for fixing remunerative price for 24 crops and suggested a 50 per cent profit margin over the cost of production.
"Since agriculture is becoming unremunerative, particularly for small and marginal farmers due to a variety of reasons, the Committee feels that the government should move towards remunerative pricing mechanism for all 24 crops," a committee on agriculture said in its report tabled today in Parliament.
Currently, the government announces minimum support prices (MSPs) for the 24 crops that act as the floor price.
The panel did not subscribe to the view of the agriculture ministry that an increase of 50 per cent on cost of production as recommended by the National Commission on Farmers headed by MS Swaminathan might distort the market.
Reiterating its earlier recommendation, the panel asked the government to take "urgent steps to fix remunerative pricing with 50 per cent profit margin over cost of production for all the 24 crops without any further delay".
There's a view in government circles that the MSP as recommended by the Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) is based on objective criteria and a variety of relevant factors.
