There is a possibility of increase in the sowing area of Rabi crops.
18-Oct-2024 05:25 PM
New Delhi. Due to abundant rains in the southwest monsoon season, there is sufficient amount of moisture in the soil of the fields and the government has also increased the minimum support price by 130 to 300 rupees per quintal, which will give a good incentive to the farmers to increase the area of Rabi crops.
It is worth noting that the open market price of all the three major crops of Rabi season - wheat, gram and mustard is running much higher than the Minimum Support Price (MSP), due to which the farmers are getting good income.
Compared to last year, this year the Central Government has increased the MSP of wheat by Rs. 150 from Rs. 2275 per quintal to Rs. 2425 per quintal, barley by Rs. 130 from Rs. 1850 to Rs. 1980 per quintal, gram by Rs. 210 from Rs. 5440 to Rs. 5650 per quintal, lentil by Rs. 275 from Rs. 6425 to Rs. 6700 per quintal,
mustard by Rs. 300 from Rs. 5650 to Rs. 5950 per quintal and safflower by Rs. 140 from Rs. 5800 to Rs. 5940 per quintal. This is expected to provide good relief to the farmers.
Food Corporation of India (FCI) makes efforts to procure a large quantity of wheat from farmers at the minimum support price, which especially benefits the farmers of states like Punjab,
Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and also benefits the farmers of Bihar, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
Now the government has also started heavy procurement of pulses and oilseeds so that its government stock can be increased, farmers can get the benefit of support price and if needed, the rise in market price can be controlled.
Due to the poor production budget of last season, government agencies and especially NAFED did not get the opportunity to purchase pulses in the expected quantity, due to which the price of gram rose rapidly and reached a new record level.
The price of gram which was struggling to reach Rs 4800/5000 per quintal two-three years ago, jumped to above Rs 7500 per quintal in the year 2024.
Similarly, after June, the price of mustard also increased well while the price of wheat has already remained attractive for the farmers.