By IANS,
New Delhi : The government Thursday decided to give farmers Rs.50 for every quintal or 100 kg of paddy as incentive in addition to the minimum support price during the kharif (autumn harvest) marketing season.
The decision was taken at the meeting of the cabinet chaired by the prime minister.
“Farmers will get Rs.50 incentive per quintal of paddy over and above MSP (minimum support price) for the entire season during 2008-09,” science and technology minister Kapil Sibal told reporters after the meeting.
At present, a farmer gets Rs.850 per quintal of paddy as MSP for the common variety of the crop, and Rs.880 for the better variety, officially known as Grade ‘A’.
The government is also in the process to finalise the MSP for kharif crops, while the agriculture ministry has sought Rs.1,000 as MSP per quintal of paddy.
The government procured 28.4 million tonnes of rice during the marketing season in 2007-08, as compared to 25.1 million tonnes in the last corresponding period, registering an increase of 13.28 percent.
According to an assessment of the agriculture ministry, India will have an estimated six million tonnes of buffer stock of wheat by April 1, 2009, against the norm of four million tonnes.
The ministry is estimated to have a rice stock of 6.4 million tonnes as of Oct 1 this year, as against the buffer norm of 5.2 million tonnes.