Govt raises MSP for Rice, other crops to counter drought

To ease the financial pressure on farmers reeling under the drought like situation, the Government on Aug. 20 announced that it was raising the floor prices for Paddy (Rice), Tur, Moong and Sesamum. The Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the common grade of Rice has been raised to Rs950 per 100 kilograms, while the price for Grade A variety of Rice has been increased to Rs980 per quintal. This implies an increase of Rs100 in absolute terms for both the grades of Rice. In percentage terms, the increase in MSP is 11.76% for the common grade and 11.36% for Grade A. An additional incentive bonus of Rs50 per quintal over the MSP was also approved for the Grade A variety of Rice.

This was announced by the Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram after a meeting of the Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). "India has ample stocks of Wheat and Rice and will take every step to mitigate drought," he told reporters. Meanwhile, the MSP for Tur was increased by Rs300 (15%) to Rs2300 per quintal while for Moong it was hiked by Rs240 (9.5%) to Rs2760 per quintal. The MSP for Sesamum was raised by Rs100 (3.64%) to Rs2850 per quintal.