This institute is an autonomous body registered with the Public Service Management Department of the Madhya Pradesh government. These suggestions have been made in the Madhya Pradesh Sushashan and Development Report 2022.
“Central and state governments need to revisit the MSP procurement policy in existence in the present form. More incentives need to be given to farmers for growing pulses, oilseeds and other high-value crops to promote diversification and encourage farmers to shift away from water-intensive crops such as paddy and wheat to other sustainable and profitable crops in which MP has a competitive advantage,” the report recommended.
“Despite the growing demand for oilseeds in the country and MP’s competitive advantage for these crops, specifically soybean, rapeseed and mustard, the area under oilseeds does not show any significant change… The area under wheat has increased by around 9 per cent in the last five years and during this same period, the area under pulse crops has decreased from 28 per cent to 15 per cent. The area under paddy has also increased from 9 to 12 per cent Gross Cropped Area (GCA) over five years,” the report said.
“The largest change has been for the area under chana, which has declined by more than 40 %. The reasons for this change can be attributed to access to assured water supply, affordable power, credit at low costs and procurement at minimum support prices by the government,” it added.
Proposing sweeping reforms in the agricultural sector, the report said, “There is a need for re-evaluation of the various forms of subsidies provided to the agriculture sector and restructuring of the input subsidies as Direct Benefit Transfer to the farmers needs to be done.”
“The cost of procurement of agricultural produce at minimum support prices is fast emerging as a significant item of expenditure in the state budget, necessitating the need to rethink strategies for achieving fair prices to farmers for their produce,” the report added.
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