One reason for the MSPs not having the desired impact could be the delayed announcement. Farmers usually make sowing decisions before the onset of the monsoon.
New Delhi: The government may have substantially hiked minimum support prices (MSP) of crops being grown in the current kharif season. That, along with most parts of India receiving good rain until now, should have considerably boosted plantings by farmers this time.
However, the Agriculture Ministry’s sowing data shows the total reported acreage under kharif crops, as on Friday, at 737.96 lakh hectares (lh). This is below not only the 797.69 lh for the same period of 2017, but also the corresponding coverage of 762.06 lh and 748.96 lh recorded in the preceding two years.
The main cause of lagging plantings does not seem to be the monsoon. According to India Meteorological Department, the country received an area-weighted rainfall of 403.2 mm during the current southwest monsoon season (June-September) until Friday. This was only 2.9 per cent lower than the long period average of 415.3 mm for this period, well within the “normal” deviation. Moreover, the rain has been normal-to-excess in 79 per cent of the country’s area.
The only major crop likely to have been impacted by the monsoon is paddy. Paddy acreage is down nearly 28 lh compared to what it was at this time last year. This entire decline is practically accounted for by four states — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam — that have registered deficient monsoon rainfall.
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