SYLLABUS SECTION: GS III (AGRICULTURE)
WHY IN THE NEWS?
Recently Centre notified a committee to promote zero-budget based farming and to make the minimum support price(MSP) more effective and transparent.
- The committee has set up under former Union Agriculture Secretary,
- Sanjay Agrawal to fulfil government’s commitment during the repeal of farm laws eight months ago.
WHAT WILL THE COMMITTEE DO?
- The committee will provide suggestions to make available MSP to farmers of the country by making the system more effective and transparent.
- It will also give suggestions on practicality to give more autonomy to Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) and measures to make it more scientific.
- It will recommend measures to strengthen the Agricultural Marketing System as per the changing requirements of the country,
- To ensure higher value to the farmers through remunerative prices of their produce by taking advantage of the domestic and export opportunities.
- It will provide suggestions on 4 points related to crop diversification including:
- mapping of existing cropping patterns of agro-ecological zones of producer and consumer states;
- strategy for diversification policy to change the cropping pattern according to the changing needs of the country;
- arrangement for agricultural diversification & system to ensure remunerative prices for the sale of new crops;
- review and suggestion on micro irrigation scheme for minimum support price (MSP).
MSP REGIME:
- During each cropping season, Union government on recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) announces MSP for 23 crops.
- MSP for a crop is the price at which government is supposed to procure/buy
- that crop from farmers if the market price falls below it.
Read more: UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS
SOURCE: INDIAN EXPRESS