Badal demands Rs 2,200 per quintal as wheat MSP

Chandigarh, Oct 8: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Friday rejected the proposed MSP of Rs 1,350 per quintal for wheat for 2012-13 as suggested by the Commission for Agriculture Cost and Prices (CACP).

He demanded Rs 2,200 per quintal as MSP to compensate the farmers for an exorbitant hike in the cost of agricultural inputs. In a statement, Badal said that the non-remunerative MSP coupled with anti-farmer policies of Centre was primarily responsible for the slowdown of the agricultural growth.

The Chief Minister said that though his government had been constantly pleading the case of Punjab's beleaguered peasantry which was in great distress and agony and demanded MSP of at least Rs 2,200 per quintal of wheat from the Government of India in line with the escalation of agricultural inputs.

He said that factors like withdrawal of subsidy on fertilisers and consequently nearly three-fold hike in the cost of DAP fertilisers had put the farmers in quandary and therefore, it was obligatory on the part of Centre to announce an adequate hike in the MSP of wheat.

Badal reiterated the CACP should re-fix the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of wheat at Rs 2,200 per quintal for the Rabi 2012-13 in accordance with the prevalent cost of the inputs in market.

He said that the state Agriculture department had worked out the MSP for the crops in consultation with experts of the Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana in view of the recent escalation in the prices of agriculture inputs like seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, diesel besides cost involved on irrigation and labour.

PTI