Not So ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ for Farmers Unaware of MSP

Farmers are not only deprived of the minimum support price announced by the govt, they are ignorant about it too.

Farmers across India are in distress. Two successive years of erratic monsoons and unseasonal rains early last year have destroyed their standing crop. With almost no income from farms, they are struggling to repay loans and farmer suicides are on the rise.

All eyes are now on the Budget and likelihood of relief packages such as loan waivers to help farmers tide over their troubles. The crop insurance scheme announced by the government can only provide relief from losses due to calamities in the coming season.

The annual ritual of announcing minimum support prices of a whole range of crops rarely benefits small farmers, who are the worst-affected by the vagaries of weather.

Ignorance About the MSP Regime

Most small farmers are not even aware that a part of their produce is covered under the MSP regime. Even when they are aware of the support price, they are mostly oblivious of the procurement agency that is responsible for buying their produce. Of the ones that are aware of the procurement process, most sell only a fraction of their produce to the agencies.

Overall, less than half the households that were aware of MSP, sold their crops to a procurement agency. That is according to the latest report of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), titled Some Aspects of Farming in India, 2012-13.

Only the sugarcane growers came across as better informed and sold a large part of their produce to procurement agencies. Even among those growing wheat and paddy, there was large-scale ignorance about the MSP regime. Just about a third of those growing wheat and paddy knew of MSP, and even fewer knew about the government procurement agencies.

Have We Failed the Farmer?

• Announcing MSP rarely benefits small farmers, who are the ones worst-affected by uncertainty of weather.
  
• Recent NSSO survey reveals farmers are mostly oblivious of the procurement agency that is responsible for buying their produce.
  
• Only sugarcane growers came across as better informed, unlike farmers growing wheat and paddy.

• If the government intends on bringing down distress levels in agriculture, it needs to devise plans to spread awareness about the MSP regime.
  

Findings of the NSSO Survey

The survey was conducted in two parts: between July and December 2012 and between January and June 2013. The awareness level of the MSP and the procurement agency was somewhat better among those contacted during the January-June 2013 round.

In particular, the awareness level of MSP and the procurement agency was low among those growing pulses when the survey was conducted between July and December 2012. It was somewhat better in the second round of the survey. Significantly, 2012-13 was also the year when the government announced a huge increase in MSP for various dals and oil seeds in an effort to encourage sowing of pulses and oil seeds to meet the surge in domestic consumption and thus calm volatility in prices.

To continue with the example of dals, in the July-December round of the survey, only 5 percent of those growing arhar or tur dal and keen on selling a part of the produce were aware that the government announces MSP on that dal. Less than 4 percent were aware of the procurement agency which would buy their produce at MSP and less than 2 percent actually sold any of their produce to a procurement agency. As a result, just about 1 percent of the produce that was sold was taken to the procurement agencies at the government announced MSP.

Need for an Awareness Campaign

The survey also reveals high levels of ignorance about MSP and government procurement agencies among farmers growing potatoes and onions. As a result, the procurement at MSP was just a tiny fraction of the produce taken to the market.

Thus, the latest NSSO report proved that MSP announced for a range of crops to assure farmers of a certain minimum level of return on their produce benefits mostly the big and rich farmers. If the government wants to seriously bring down distress levels in agriculture, and actually help smaller farmers, it needs to devise plans to spread awareness about the MSP regime and the procurement process, which is actually meant to be a safety net of sorts, and also ensure greater procurement from them.

An effective MSP regime, together with the crop insurance scheme (Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana) that Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Thursday, will ensure farmers are not driven to suicide for want of remunerative price for their produce or crop failure.

(The writer is a Delhi-based senior journalist)

Also read: To Prevent Farmer Suicides, Make Crop Insurance Mandatory