Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Higher state support price drives farmers to increase land for pulses by Prabha Jagannathan

Higher state support price drives farmers to increase land for pulses by Prabha Jagannathan

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Sep 24, 2010   modified Modified on Sep 24, 2010


The higher purchase price announced by the government has finally driven farmers to set aside more land for pulses this kharif, but experts doubt the approach can fill the increasing gap between demand and supply of this increasingly important source of protein for Indians.

In the short-term though it could help reduce imports of pulses, running into thousands of crore every year. This year the acreage for pulses is pegged at 17.33 lakh ha, higher than the same time last year. In the thick of a prolonged double digit food inflation, support prices were hiked up to 33%, between Rs 380 and Rs 700/quintal, to lure farmers to plant more pulses.

The MSP for Arhar in 2010-11 is fixed at Rs 3,000 per quintal, against Rs 2,800 per quintal recommended by the Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices.

The sharp increase has incentivised farmers to plant more pulses with the acreage going up to 110.08 lakh hectare as on September 9 from 90.57 lakh hectare at the same time last year. But, this is mere diversion of arable land from one crop to another, as there is no new land available for cultivation.

“By merely increasing prices, we are deferring the problem for some time instead of finding a permanent solution,” commodity market analyst Vandana Bhatt and Shivanand Upadhyay of SMC Global Securities stressed in a recent article.

The increase in the production of pluses will show up a deficit elsewhere. Indeed, the relative attraction of sugarcane purchased prices and the minimum support price, or MSP, for foodgrain has caused see-saw between foodgrains and sugarcane periodically.

“Food prices are unlikely to be checked with the Centre using MSP as the sole policy to increase acreage and production to meet increasing demand, whether the crop is sugarcane or food grain,” says Sunil Kakaria, MD, Mawana Sugars. It is not necessary that the high MSP-triggered increase in acreage would yield a greater production of pulses, moong cultivation over the past couple of years is a case in point.

The acreage under this second most important of the nine pulses went up to 38,750 hectares in 2009-10 from 36,185 hectares in 2008-09 after the government hiked the MSP by Rs 240 a quintal to Rs 2760/quintal.

But the production dropped to 0.73 million tonne in 2009-10 from 1.4 mt in 2008-09 thanks to lesser use of fertiliser, cultivation in marginal land and absence of improved farming practices.

On the other hand, acreage under cotton and its production have been increasing despite a stagnant MSP for three years because of the better price realization abroad and at home.

Bhatt and Upadhyay contend that bumper production of wheat and rice for three year only partly has to do with MSP. The adoption of high yielding technology and user of better technology had a big role to play, they argue.

Higher MSPs would also tend to keep food inflation high.

The long-term solution, therefore, is increase in agricultural productivity, which will allow farmers to earn a higher income from their plot of land without compromising food security and propping up inflation.


The Economic Times, 24 September, 2010, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/Higher-state-support-price-drives-farmers-to-increase-land-for-pulses/articleshow/6616978.cms


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close