Leave MSP decision to States: Telangana Agriculture Minister

HYDERABAD: The pro-farmer measures undertaken by the TRS government helped the State increase its food grain production by 40.8 per cent during the Kharif season, in comparison to the corresponding season last year, said Agriculture Minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy. “The total food grain production touched 130 lakh tonnes this year,” he said while speaking at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s (ICAR) 91st governing body meeting in Delhi on Thursday. 

Niranjan Reddy suggested that the States should be given the freedom to decide the minimum support price (MSP) of various crops. “If the States decide the MSP, then the Centre could achieve its goal of doubling the farmers’ income by 2022,” he said. “Due to different geographical conditions across the country, the input costs for the same crop will vary from state to state. Thus, it is better if the Centres leaves the decision  to the State governments,” the Minister said.