Opportunity lost

Farmers' rejection of govt scheme is disappointing

The rejection by farmers’ representatives of the government’s proposal to buy the marketable surplus of five non-wheat/non-rice crops over the next five years at their minimum support prices (MSPs) is a lost opportunity to find middle ground between the strikers’ maximalist demands and the Centre’s fiscal capabilities. The government’s latest offer entailed buying masoor (lentil), urad (black gram), arhar (pigeon pea), maize, and cotton over the next five years at their declared MSPs from those farmers who would switch to these crops from wheat and paddy. The purchases under this scheme were open-ended — there were no quantitative restrictions —