By IANS,
Chandigarh: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar Friday said the central government would decide on giving bonus to farmers on the minimum support price of paddy next week and will also announce the MSP for wheat for next year.
Pawar told media after his meetings with officials from Punjab and Haryana, the two states that contribute the maximum foodgrain to the country’s buffer stocks, that the MSP issue will come up at the next meeting of the central cabinet.
The minister said the state governments were demanding higher MSP for farmers due to steep hike in the rate of cultivation due to drought-like conditions and lesser-than-normal monsoon this year.
Punjab and Haryana have so far procured over 85 lakh tonnes of paddy during procurement that started earlier October.
Pawar said that there was enough buffer stock of foodgrain in the country and there was no cause of concern on this front.