BKU demands Rs 1100 MSP for wheat

Chandigarh, Nov 2 (UNI) The Punjab unit of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) today demanded a minimum support price (MSP) for wheat ranging between Rs 1050 and Rs 1115, arguing that the private purchasers were already purchasing the commodity at this price.

Close on the heels of the MSP hike up to Rs 750 as announced by the Centre, the BKU leadership pointed out in a statement issued here that the Union government was already importing wheat at price of over Rs 1100 per quintal and, thus, the farmers back home were justified in demanding the same price.

BKU National President Bhupinder Singh Mann and its Punjab unit Chief Balbir Singh Rajewal said that the market price of wheat at present in the state was Rs 1100 per quintal.

Moreover, considering the price index at current prices with 1997 as the base year, the current price of wheat worked out to be more than Rs 2,000 per quintal, they said.

The demands were adopted in the form of a resolution at the BKU executive committee meeting here yesterday, Mr Mann said.

They said the input costs had tremendously increased in the last few years which made it difficult for the farmers to sustain.

The BKU also stated that the government had failed to arrange adequate supply of DAP and urea for sowing wheat in Punjab.

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