SME Times News Bureau | 18 Feb, 2012
The Haryana government Friday sought enhanced minimum support price (MSP) of Rs.1,800 per quintal for paddy and other crops of the Kharif season 2012-13.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has approved a proposal in this regard to be sent to the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), said a state government spokesperson.

The state government has proposed MSP of Rs.1,800 per quintal for the common variety of paddy, Rs.1,880 per quintal for the fine variety and Rs.1,960 per quintal for the super variety.

The MSP fixed by the central government for 2011-12 was Rs.1,080 per quintal for the common variety and Rs.1,110 per quintal for the fine and superfine variety.

The state also sought MSP of Rs.1,215 per quintal for bajra (for 2012-13) against Rs.980 fixed by the central government during 2011-12. For maize, Haryana has proposed MSP of Rs.1,730 per quintal against Rs.980 given this year. The MSP proposed for cotton is Rs.3,900 per quintal against Rs.3,300.

The spokesperson said that the cost of cultivation of paddy, bajra, maize and cotton had gone up due to the increase in labour charges and higher cost of agricultural inputs.

"The cost of production of paddy had gone up by six percent during 2011-12 as compared to 2010-11, and would shoot up by 22.6 percent in 2012-13. Similarly, the cost of production of bajra increased by 0.9 percent in 2011-12 but would increase to 7.1 percent in 2012-13," he said.