Skip to main content

We "BKC Aggregators" welcome Government's offer for farmers

Government Relents on MSP Issue, Proposes Five-Year Contract to Secure Fair Returns for Farmers and Promote Sustainable Agriculture


The government has relented on the contentious issue of Minimum Support Price (MSP). The proposal involves a groundbreaking five-year contract aimed at stabilizing prices and ensuring fair returns for farmers cultivating pulses, maize, and cotton. This initiative comes at a crucial juncture, addressing long-standing grievances within the agricultural sector while also aligning with broader policy objectives of crop diversification and environmental sustainability.

Major Points from the Meeting: 

  • Union Cooperative Societies to Sign Five-Year Contracts: As per the proposal, the Cotton Corporation of India will enter a 5-year legal agreement with farmers to purchase the crops at MSP.  The government has brokered agreements with prominent Union cooperative societies such as the National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED). These entities will enter into five-year contracts to purchase dal (pulses) and maize from farmers at MSPs.
  • MSP Assurance:  Under the proposed contracts, the designated crops will be procured at MSPs, providing a crucial safety net for farmers and ensuring stable incomes.
  • Unlimited Purchase Quantities and Website Accessibility: Notably, there will be no restrictions on the quantities that farmers can sell under these contracts. Additionally, a dedicated website will be established to facilitate transparent transactions and streamline procurement processes. 

Long-term Strategy for Maize Production: 

The government's offer extends far beyond immediate relief, to also include a strategic vision to boost maize production. Recognizing the important role of maize as the primary feedstock for grain-based ethanol supplies, the initiative seeks to encourage farmers to cultivate maize. The decision is likely to have multi-dimensional benefits, ranging from reviving Punjab's agriculture sector to reducing environmental pressures such as groundwater depletion and land degradation.

Addressing Environmental Concerns:

This new proposal also responds to press environmental concerns, particularly regarding groundwater depletion and air quality deterioration. By encouraging the transition to maize cultivation, the government aims to reduce stress on groundwater resources and reducing air pollution caused by burning of paddy waste, particularly prevalent in the Delhi region.

We, Fasal Salah, extend our support to the government's new scheme and also suggest farmers for the adoption of this initiative.

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Maize as Fuel of Future

  Ethanol as Fuel Government has set an ambitious target of 20% ethanol blending in petrol by 2025. This is a significant move to cut down the crude import which contribute to 25% of total import in terms of value in India. As of June this year, the national average for ethanol blending was 13%, an increase from previous year of 12.1% in 2022-23 and 10% in 2021-22. The blending ratios is reaching to nearly 16% by June 2024. What is important to understand that ethanol production in India initially relied predominantly molasses, a by-product of sugar production. The policy shift to include grains as supplementary feedstocks, such as maize and damaged rice, further diversifying the sources of ethanol has very prefound effect on raw material utilization for ethanol production. With government incentivise by setting a higher ex-distillery price of Rs 71.86 per liter for ethanol produced from maize, has led to the establishment of multi-feedstock distilleries, which operate on a m...

Technology - Advising Farmers and Crop Yield Assesment

Food security in the light of climate change is a global imperative. In developing nations, the problem is exacerbated by variable weather, lack of reliable extension services to optimize yield and fair market access. In India, most farmers do not have access to weather advisory forecasts that are hyper local to their field and timely in nature. As all farming activities are heavily dependent on weather, decisions on application of fertilizers and pesticide, irrigation, and even plucking of fruits & vegetables and harvesting cannot be taken efficiently. In addition, significant crop losses, that are entirely preventable, accrue through adverse weather events. Crop advisory services, where available, are generic and not pegged to a farmer's seed variety, date of sowing, and growing conditions and hence do not dispense timely, actionable advice, directly relevant to a farmer. Likewise, market trends pertinent to their particular crop and location ...

MONSOON 2024

India is poised to have a good monsoon this year. It can be seen for the NOAA graph of Fig. 1 below. El Nino conditions are changing to La Nina from May June July. Fig. 1: ENSO Probabilities by NOAA This year, the Southwest Monsoon is anticipated to arrive in extreme parts of South-SE Bay around the first week of May, gradually progressing northward. Seasonal Forecast as given by IRI in Fig. 2 below. Fig. 2: Seasonal Forecast by IRI Regional Outlook: The monsoon season may extend into early October this year. Western and Northwestern India: Above-normal to excess rainfall is possible over most parts of Western and Northwestern India, including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Maharashtra, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. This increased Rains is likely to raise concerns for potential flooding, especially during the peak and late monsoon seasons. Rains are likely to be favorable to all Kharif Crops. Fig. 3: Rainfall forecast by IMD Southern and Southeastern India: While the ...