Farm union leaders rejected the Centre’s proposal of buying pulses, maize, and cotton at minimum support price (MSP) by government agencies for five years. The announcement was made by farmer leaders Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal at the Punjab-Haryana’s Shambhu border in Patiala district after holding a meeting. A panel of three Union ministers — Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda, and Nityanand Rai — on Sunday gave a proposal to the farmers during the fourth round of talks in Chandigarh.
According to farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher, “We will discuss proposals given by the Centre with fellow farmers, take the opinions of experts.” The crops which the Centre has proposed to buy on assured MSP include three pulses — arhar, tur, and urad, besides cotton and maize. It is proposed that the central agencies such as the NCCF, NAFED, and the Cotton Corporation of India will sign a contract for five years to buy the crops from the farmers. The farmer leaders have been asked by the three-member Union ministers to discuss their proposal and give their consent before arriving at the final plan from the Central government.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann expressed that if the MSP is given for this crop, then Punjab can lead the country in the production of pulses. He added that it will be a second green revolution in the country, though Punjab had suffered due to the loss of its only natural resources in terms of over-exploitation of fertile soil and water. The Chief Minister also said that farmers of the state can adopt cotton and maize only if they get the MSP of these crops. He said the assured marketing of these crops can encourage the farmers for crop diversification, providing a major push to the crop diversification in the country. He added that the country currently imports pulses from other countries whereas if farmers get remunerative prices, then they can produce these pulses here.
In a setback for the Centre, farm union leaders have rejected the proposal of buying pulses, maize, and cotton at minimum support price (MSP) by government agencies for five years. The rejection came after the announcement was made by farmer leaders Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal at the Punjab-Haryana’s Shambhu border in Patiala district after holding a meeting. The proposal was made by a panel of three Union ministers during the fourth round of talks in Chandigarh, and the farmer leaders have been asked to discuss the proposal further before arriving at a final plan.
