BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government will soon launch a benchmark price for procurement of minor millets like Suan (little millet) and Kangu (foxtail millet), which are currently outside the ambit of minimum support price (MSP).
At present, millets such as pearl millet (bajra), sorgum (jowar) and finger millet (ragi or mandia) are procured by the department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment at an MSP announced by the Centre. In Odisha, 85 per cent of the millet-cultivated area is under finger millet and the rest 15 per cent under minor millets - suan and kangu.
Speaking on the sidelines of International Millets Convention on Friday, secretary of the department Aravind Padhee said since there is no MSP for suan and kangu, the state government has come up with a benchmark pricing, which is equivalent to the MSP of a crop that is not available. For the purpose, the Odisha Millet Mission has collaborated with OUAT.
In the last three years, OUAT conducted studies in some millet-growing districts like Koraput, Nuapada, Gajapati, Rayagada, Kandhamal and Kalahandi to observe the quantities of suan and kangu being produced by farmers in areas and if they are able to sell them at remunerative prices or not.
“We took data from these three years of field research to come up with the benchmark price. The Odisha government has adopted the A2+Family Labour (FL) formula to determine the MSP for little and foxtail millets, as is being done by the Centre for fixing the MSP of a particular crop,” he said.
The A2 + FL formula includes the expenses incurred by farmers for production and FL is the imputed value of unpaid family labour. Apart from the A2 + FL, the benchmark pricing takes into consideration 50 per cent profit from the crop that should go to the farmer.
“We are at the final stage of fixing the benchmark pricing. Once it is approved by the government, we will declare this benchmark price and then any trader or government agency can start procuring minor millets against that price,” Padhee said.
At present, Odisha is among the nine states that are buying and distributing millets. The rest are Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu.This year, Odisha has decided to procure 8 lakh tonne of millets.
For farmers
The benchmark pricing is equivalent to MSP of a crop that is not available
Data procured after three years of field research to come up with the benchmark price
A2+Family Labour formula adopted for determining MSP for little and foxtail millets