India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday increased the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the Rabi crop for 2010-11. While, the MSP for wheat has been raised by Rs. 20 per quintal and pulses upto Rs. 380 per quintal. Support prices for Masoor and Gram have been hiked sharply by Rs. 380 and Rs. 340 respectively. The MSP for wheat, which was Rs. 1100 per quintal in the last season will now be Rs. 1120 per quintal. The MSP for safflower has been increased by Rs. 120 per quintal and that of Barley by Rs. 30 per quintal. The hike in MSP is based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). Higher support prices for kharif pulses had resulted in a sharp jump in acreage and production is estimated to rise to 6 million tonnes in the kharif season of the 2010-11 crop year from 4.3 million tonnes in the year-ago period The Cabinet has also approved amendments to the Seeds Bill, 2004, aimed at regulating the quality of seeds and ensuring their availability to the farmers. According to an official release this will help in checking the sail of spurious and poor quality seeds increase private participation in the production and distribution of seeds and to liberalise imports of seeds and planting materials.

Cabinet decides to raise minimum support price for Rabi crop