Blog: June 2024

Thursday 20 June 2024

Thank You , Mamaji

( - aka Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhanji – Minister for Agriculture )

What for ?

For listening to my suggestion

What suggestion ?

To “ contain “ the overall burden on the exchequer due to increase announced in MSPs of major crops by “capping “ the maximum quantity ( MPQ = Max Purchase Quantity )

What gives you the idea that your suggestion has been considered ?

Following announcement :

Cabinet approves msp for 14 kharif season crops, farmers to get rs 35,000 crore more over previous season

( DDNews.Gov.in )

Extract :

“The Cabinet has approved the Minimum Support Price (MSP) on 14 Kharif season crops, including paddy, ragi, bajra, jowar, maize, and cotton. With today’s decision, farmers will get around Rs 2 lakh crore as MSP, which is Rs 35,000 crore more than the previous season,” Vaishnaw said.

How do you think , Shri Chouhan arrived at this figure of Rs 2 lakh crore ?

I don’t know for sure but following tabulation will give you an idea :

Srl No	Crop	P New price/quintal( Rs) ( MSP )	% hike over 2023 - 24	Q Max Purchase Quantity ( MPQ )	Total Burden P x Q

1	Niger Seed	8,717	12.7	Q1	P1 X Q1

2	Ragi	4,290	11.5	Q2	P2 x Q2

3	Tur / Arhar	7,550	7.8	Q3	P3 x Q3

4	Sunflower Seed	7,280	7.7	Q4	P4 x Q4

5	Cotton	7,121	7.5	Q5	P5 x Q5

6	Sesamum	9,267	7.3	Q6	P6 x Q6

7	Urad	7,400	6.5	Q7	P7 x Q7

8	Groundnut	6,783	6.4	Q8	P8 x Q8

9	Maize	2,225	6.4	Q9	P9 x Q9

10	Soybean	4,892	6.3	Q10	P10 x Q10

11	Jowar	3,371	6	Q11	P11 x Q11

12	Paddy	2,300	5.3	Q12	P12 x Q12

13	Bajra	2,625	5	Q13	P13 x Q13

	TOTAL				Rs 2 lakh Crore

Hey , this makes sense ! When did you suggest this ?

Here is my email to our Cabinet Ministers :

Ø Point : Counter-Point // MSP : MPQ …………………….. 28 Nov 2021

Extract :

Dear Kisan Netas / Shri Tomarji,

Here too a Compromise Solution is possible in the spirit of Give and Take

It is : MSP linked with MPQ

Where, MPQ = Maximum Purchase Quantity ( separate figure for each of those 23 crops )

This means, in each year, Government shall not be obliged to purchase more than the MPQ ( at its MSP ), for any crop

The MSP and MPQ shall be worked out and announced by the govt. 6 months in advance of the coming year

As suggested in my following earlier blog-email, it is possible to automate this entire process of computation of MSP, by using Geo-Spatial Technology :

Agri Reforms : an Ongoing Process…………………….[ 20 Nov 2021 ]

Using same technology, it is possible to also calculate ( automatically and without human intervention ), the MPQ for each of those 23 crops for the upcoming year

Both, the Government and the Farmers should be happy with such an AUTOMATIC – SCIENTIFIC – UNBIASED – TECHNOLOGY BASED – DYNAMIC process, which announces its results on a Govt website within a specific time - frame

This way, Govt will know in advance, the total amount of FUNDS that will be required for the coming season

And, knowing in advance, the MPQ / MSP for each crop, farmers will decide WHICH crop to plant and HOW MUCH to plant ( Demand / Supply / Price, dynamics in regulated manner )

On Govt web site, each purchase ( at MSP ) will be published ( individual and cumulative ) for each crop

This will show, how much total has been purchased ( for each crop ) and how much still remains to be purchased

When Govt purchase for an MSP crop reaches its stipulated MPQ ( for a given season / year ) , the Govt will stop buying and declare in all media

Irrespective of this provision, farmers will be free to negotiate with any trader / middleman / business , any SALE QUANTITY at any negotiated price ( whether higher or lower than published MSP )

Based on State-wise distribution ( of production ) of any particular crop, Central Government will work out State-wise QUOTAS of purchase quantities for each crop

∬ msp_1 x mpq_1 = Funds needed for Crop 1………..( insert data for all 23 crops, one by one )