Tomar replies on MSP & other farmers related issues brought up by MP Arora in Parliament

Ludhiana, February 7, 2023: It is a matter of regret that the Union Government has not taken any decision so far for providing legal guarantee or sanctity to the MSP (minimum support price) regime, said the AAP’s MP (Rajya Sabha) from Ludhiana Sanjeev Arora.

In a statement here today, he added that it seems as if the union government is trying to keep this matter pending for the reasons better known to it.

Arora said in reply to his question, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar informed that the government has constituted a committee vide notification dated July 12, 2022, to promote natural farming, to change crop pattern keeping in mind the changing needs of the country, and to make MSP more effective and transparent. The meetings of the committee are held on regular basis to deliberate on the subject matter assigned to it.

In his question, Arora had asked about the timeframe for submission of report/ recommendations of the recently constituted Committee on Minimum Support Price (MSP), natural farming and crop diversification; and whether government is taking any measures towards providing legal guarantee/sanctity to the MSP regime.

Arora said answer is not satisfactory, provided by the Union Minister on floor of the House. “It seems that the Centre is adopting delayed tactics and trying to linger on the issue whereas it is a hard fact that there is a dire need to take some concrete measures towards providing legal guarantee/sanctity to the MSP regime in the larger interest of the farmers”, he asserted.    

Arora had also asked the measures taken by government to increase farmers' income and specifically double farmers' income. In reply, Tomar replied that “government has adopted/implemented several developmental programs, schemes, reforms and policies for achieving higher incomes for the farmers.” These include unprecedented enhancement in budget allocation, income support to farmers through PM Kisan, Pradhan Mantri Fasal BimaYojana (PMFBY), institutional credit for agriculture sector, promotion of organic farming in the country, Micro Irrigation Fund, Promotion of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), Agricultural Mechanization, Providing Soil Health Cards to farmers, Agri Infrastructure Fund (AIF) and Improvement in farm produce logistics, Introduction of Kisan Rail.

He said the Union Minister also informed that a National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) has been launched as part of the Atama Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan to increase productivity of crops through pollination and increase in honey production as an additional source of income.