BENGALURU: Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa urged the Centre to increase the MSP of Jowar-Maldandi according to the market rates. In a letter to Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal, Muniyappa stated that since 2014, the prices of fertilisers such as D.A.P. & complexes have increased three-folds.
The price of D.A.P. has been increased from Rs 460 to Rs 1350 per bag and the price of complexes from Rs 400 to Rs 1,470. Therefore, the MSP for ragi is to be Rs 5,000 and for jowar Rs 4,500, respectively, he stated.The minister stated that the Centre communicated the MSP rates of various agriculture products, including the rates of jowar hybrid at Rs 3,180 per quintal & Jowar-Maldandi at Rs 3,225 per quintal.
“In the MSP rates communicated for KMS 2023-24, the MSP rate of ragi is positioned at Rs 3,846 per quintal, but the MSP of Jowar-Maldandi is only at Rs 3,225 per quintal (only 83.8 per cent of ragi MSP), with a difference of over Rs 620 per quintal. Further, the market consistence price of Jowar-Maldandi is approximately Rs 4,000 per quintal in the state,” he said.
The minister appealed to the Centre to review the rate to do justice to the farmers cultivating Jowar-Maldandi grain. He said the state needs a formal assurance on the quantity of purchase of ragi and jowar by the Centre through FCI under the Central pool. He urged the Centre to issue necessary instructions to the concerned officials to extend cooperation to the state in increasing the procurement of ragi and jowar stocks, for supply under the Central pool.