India needs a dynamic trade policy to promote agricultural exports, issues related to agri-export infrastructure, agri-value chains, Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures
Binod Anand the Secrertary General of Confederation of NGOs for Rural India (CNRI), a member of the Committee on MSP and Agri Reforms appreciated the recent announcement government to hike the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Kharif crops.
Anand, who hails from cooperative sector, strongly advocated utilising PACS (Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society) for structural changes in procurement directly from farmers and democratisation of the value chain.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the increase in MSP on June 7, 2023, for all mandated Kharif crops for the marketing season 2023-24. As per the list released by PIB, GoI announced an increase in MSP rates for the crops of Paddy-Common, Paddy-Grade A, Jowar-Hybrid, Jowar-Maldandi, Bajra, Ragi, Maize, Tur/Arhar, Moong, Urad, Moongfali (Groundnut), Sunflower seed, Soybean (yellow), Sesamum, Nigerseed, Cotton (Medium staple) and Cotton (Long Staple). The expected margin to farmers over their cost of production is estimated to be highest in the case of Bajra (82 per cent) followed by Tur (58 per cent), Soybean (52 per cent) and Urad (51 per cent). For the rest of the crops, the margin to farmers over their cost of production is estimated to be at least 50 per cent.
Welcoming the announcement, Binod Anand said, “The MSP of many crops like Jowar, Bajra, Ragi, Nigerseed in comparison to MSP declared for 2014-15, whereas the other crops have witnessed the increase in the rage of 70 to 90 per cent, which is significant if you look at the global scenario.”
Anand also underlined the progress on the front of agricultural exports, wherein India’s agricultural exports increased by about 22.7 per cent in 2020-21, from ₹2.6 lakh crore in 2019-20 to ₹3.2 lakh crore in 2020-21, which further increased to ₹3.9 lakh crore in 2021-22, an increase of 21.6 per cent.
He said that India needs a dynamic trade policy to promote agricultural exports, issues related to agri-export infrastructure, agri-value chains, Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and traceability, export procedures and documentation, etc. need to be addressed apart from giving special thrust on the export of value-added processed products and organic produce.
