₹100 hike inadequate, revise MSP increase to 25%: Farmers assn

TIRUCHY: The increase of Rs 100 per quintal in MSP for paddy is not adequate as the production cost had doubled, claimed farmers in Cauvery Delta region and urged the government to revise the rate and announce a 25 per cent increase.

Farmers from Delta region claimed that the hike was meagre against their long standing demand of 25 per cent hike in MSP as production costs have almost doubled. “Due to the price hike of inputs, wages, machinery rentals and diesel prices, the production cost has increased to almost 50 per cent and the hike of Rs 100 per quintal works out to only 5 per cent of our demand and this is certainly inadequate,” said Swamimalai Sundara Vimalnathan, secretary of Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Protection Association.

Vimalnathan said, as per the recommendations of scientist MS Swaminathan, the farmers should have at least 50 per cent more in addition to the production cost. “Just an increase of 5 per cent will never support the farmers in any part of the country,” he said.

He said that the Prime Minister during his address in the farmers rally in Bareilly in UP in 2016 had promised to double the income by 2022. “But there is no sign of increasing the income with such a meagre hike,” Vimalnathan said and urged the government to revise the MSP for oil seeds from the announced 5 to 8 per cent, which was also not in favour of farmers.

Meanwhile, Vimalnathan lauded the announcement of equal hike for both common and fine varieties of paddy.

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