No legal guarantee for MSP, government tells Lok Sabha

The MP asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare to explain the delay in implementing the Swaminathan Commission's recommendation for a legally guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) based on the C2+50% formula and to provide details on the committee constituted to address this issue.

Asked and answered by: Asked by: Shri Anand Bhadauria; Answered by: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan)

What the government said

• MSPs are fixed for 22 mandated crops based on CACP recommendations with a margin of at least 50% over the weighted average cost of production.
• A Committee was constituted in July 2022 to make MSP more effective and transparent, promote natural farming, and change crop patterns.
• The Committee has held a total of 48 meetings (6 main-committee and 42 sub-committee) since its inception.
• Procurement of cereals is done by FCI and State Agencies; pulses, oilseeds, and copra are procured under the PM-AASHA scheme by NAFED and NCCF.
• Total procurement increased from 69.87 LMT (2004-2014) to 128.19 LMT (2014-2026), with MSP value paid increasing from ₹7.41 Crore to ₹27.80 Crore.
• The Government launched the Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses till 2030-31 to reduce import dependence.
• A new Price Differential Payment (PDP) component was introduced under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) from the 2024-25 season for perishable crops.
• The Government listed 12 other initiatives for farmer benefit, including PM-KISAN, PMFBY, and the formation of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs).

Also in the document

• The answer does not explicitly confirm a statutory or legal guarantee for MSP, stating instead that MSPs are fixed annually based on CACP recommendations.
• The answer does not provide a specific timeline for fulfilling the demand for a legally guaranteed MSP as requested in part (e) of the question.
• The answer does not provide a date-wise list of meetings held in the last three months, as requested in part (c), but provides the total number of meetings held since the committee's inception.