Govt hikes MSP by Rs 50 per quintal for wheat, Rs 225 per quintal for gram: Union Agriculture Minister

New Delhi [India], September 21 (ANI): The Government has hiked minimum support price (MSP) by Rs 50 per quintal for wheat, Rs 225 per quintal for the gram and Rs 300 per quintal for lentil, said Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.
"Government has hiked MSP by Rs 50 per quintal for wheat, Rs 225 per quintal for gram, Rs 300 per quintal for lentil, Rs 225 per quintal for Mustard seeds, and Rs 75 per quintal for barley," said Tomar.
Meanwhile, taking to Twitter, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh wrote that today, the cabinet under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to increase the MSP of many Rabi crops which is a reflection of his commitment to protect the interests of farmers.
"In order to give a remunerative price for their crops of the farmers, it has been decided to pay one and a half times the cost price and in some crops, double the price under MSP. I wholehearted welcome Prime Minister's decisions and Agriculture Minister's announcement," he added.
Tomar on Monday told the Lok Sabha said that MSP of six Rabi crops has been increased. The increase came a day after two agriculture-related bills were passed by the Parliament.
He said MSP of wheat was hiked by Rs 50 per quintal to Rs 1,975 per quintal.
The minister said that the NDA government has been implementing the Swaminathan Committee recommendation to provide farmers price at 1.5 times of the production cost.
"After the Parliament passed historic agriculture bills, today some important decisions were taken regarding an increase in MSP. Before the sowing of Rabi crops, today, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the MSP of six Rabi crops," the minister said.
"After an increase of Rs 50, MSP of wheat is now Rs 1,975 per quintal. MSP of chana (gram) has been hiked by Rs 225 per quintal to Rs 5,100. MSP of masoor (lentil) has been fixed at Rs 5,100 per quintal after an increase Rs 300. MSP of sarson (mustard) has been increased by Rs 200 to Rs 4050 per quintal. MSP of barley has increased by Rs 75 Rs to Rs 1600 per quintal. After an increase of Rs 112, MSP of safflower is now Rs 5,327 per quintal," he said.
Lauding the passage of agriculture bills in Parliament, Tomar said that the MSP and APMCs will continue.
"Congress was saying that MSP and APMC will end. I had said that MSP and APMC will continue. Farmers are also free to sell their produce anywhere outside APMC," he said.
He said that Rs 7 lakh crore was paid to farmers as the MSP payment in the last six years which was almost double that of the corresponding period during the UPA regime.
The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 amid opposition protest in the Rajya Sabha.
The bills were earlier passed by Lok Sabha. The opposition parties have been alleging that MSP will be impacted due to the bills (ANI)