As promised by the Prime Minister during his election campaign to increase farmer’s income, the Indian Union Cabinet on Wednesday announced Hike in Minimum Support Price (MSP) for 14 Kharif Crops for 2019-20 season.
Delayed Monsoon
Delayed monsoon led to slower sowing of kharif crops by farmers throughout India. As per data published by the agricultural ministry, sowing of paddy till end of june estimated at 27.09 lakh hectares compared to 35.54 lakh hectares in previous year.
Jowar sowing fell from 2.37 lakh hectares to 1.11 lakh hectares till end of June. The situation will improve as monsoon has picked up in July and we can expect sowing areas to increase throughout India.
MSP Hike on Kharif Crops
MSP Hike announced 4 months before paddy sowing of kharif crop even began. However, for other kharif crops, it was announced almost 45 days after sowing began in many parts of India.
The MSP for Jowar at INR 2570 per quintal, Ragi at INR 3150 and Maize at INR 1760 to support farmers due to subdued and low monsoon this year. Other MSP hiked kharif crops include pulses, groundnut, soyabean, sunflower, sesame and cotton.
India’s Water Shortage
Forty Percent of farmers in India tend to sow paddy crop during Kharif sowing season, which fetches higher return compared to other crops.
It takes almost 3000 litres of water to produce 1kg of Rice. Water shortage is one of the biggest problems this country will be facing in future. Crop diversification is important for India to save water for future generations.
In conclusion, if this announcement would have been made earlier many farmers would have shifted from paddy. We hope the government of India in future keep “Saving Water” as the most important objective in their policies.