[Reader-list] [issuesonline_worldwide] MSP FOR KHARIF CROPS 2011-12

Mon Jun 20 19:47:12 IST 2011

The solution would be to improve the distribution, storage and procurement
system
Universal PDS is certainly essential (as everybody must have food security)
and can also ease the pressure on storage (plagued by stock-build up
problem). The gap between 'supply for universal PDS' and current procurement
levels is quite small. Targeting is done by the central Govt to deprive most
of the poor.. there are a number of studies on this aspect. ~90+% of the
nation should be regarded as BPL, rice @ Rs2 is rice@ Rs 2. To speak of
'excessive Government subsidies' in a country with no sane concept of social
security for the people is abomination.

The restriction on movement on food grains was also aimed at curbing
black-marketing and hoarding by  wholesalers. They are very capable of
creating famines for both monetary gains and political games. It can argued
that given the changing nature of market players that such restrictions
actually help potential monopolists. But that is not ground reality.

The bigger issues also relate to FDI and futures trading in agriculture.
This article (http://www.macroscan.org/anl/may11/pdf/Food_Flows.pdf ) has
much to say on the 'concepts' used by the corporate media for their vested
interests.

Best

A. Mani

-- 
A. Mani
ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS
http://www.logicamani.co.cc

On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 9:32 AM, S kumar <kumar_8134 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> **
>
>
> You might recall the strict rationing system and the restrictions on
> movement of
> foodgrains from one State to other during the time of Nehru and Rafi Ahmed
> Kidwai was the Union Minister for food.
>
> Against Nehru's caution, Kidwai took the bold step of freeing all
> restrictions
> on the movement of foodgrains and within a few months the shortages
> disappeared
> and grain was available at reasonable rates in open market. However later
> Govts.
> under Indira Gandhi reintroduced such restrictions and there was a time
> when the
> ban on movement of grains was there, people made Chapati-s in Punjab and
> Haryana
> and sold the same in neighbouring States!!
>
> Again the Re.1 or 2 per Kg. is a gimmick allowing huge illegal movement of
> rice
> from States like TM to Kerala- a deficit State, enabling the corrutpion at
> several levels including check-posts. If a family could accept paying Rs.70
> per
> liter of petrol for the two wheelers mostly ubiquitous, obviously they
> could pay
> the market price for rice which could stabilise around Rs.10 per Kg. if
> free
> movement is allowed.
>
> In the past three years we have seen the gross mismanagement of grain
> production, procurement and distribution, throughout the Country. The FCI
> releases the oldest stocks- usually 3-4 years old for PDF and perennially,
> the
> poor/middle class getting rice pay for the stale and stinking rice since
> the PDF
> was introduced. it is like you consume the overripe banana and leave the
> rest
> again toi be consumes after it is overripe. Are not the policies foolish
> and FCI
> acts only on political influences by not releasing stocks when demanded by
> deficit States and allow the stocks to rot?
>
> There have been cases of entire rake loads of wheat sent in open wagons,
> sprouting through the sacking and unfit for anything at the destination!!
> There
> is no accountability.
>
> When the journalists went to the Alappuzha FCI godown to see the grains
> stacked
> in the open and getting wet, the FCI manager snatched the Camera and
> slapped the
> TV Crew? Would Food Minister take action? No. Since all of them are
> colluded in
> the nefarious activities of disposing procured stocks and writing off good
> grains as damaged and discarded!!
>
> If the market is opened, the grains would be stocked by the whole-salers as
>
> their money is involved, and market demand/supply forces will work and
> consumers
> will get good grains and not 3 years old stocks released by FCI. The cross
> border smuggling of rice or wheat could also be stopped when restrictions
> are
> removed. The supply of Rs.1 and 2 Kg. rice should stop and as Jayalalitha
> did,
> the poorer would be given free rice, 20Kg. per family, as recorded in the
> voters' list or Ration Card under Food Security implemented by her now.
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: A. Mani <a.mani.cms at gmail.com>
> To: issuesonline_worldwide at yahoogroups.com; sarai list <
> reader-list at sarai.net>;
> The Moderates <the-moderates at googlegroups.com>
> Sent: Mon, June 20, 2011 8:34:05 AM
> Subject: Re: [issuesonline_worldwide] MSP FOR KHARIF CROPS 2011-12
>
>
> The private sector cannot handle storage and will only end up
> aggravating the crisis.
> Already they are having a field day exploiting the farmers.
> Studies show that cooperatives can help partially, but they do not scale
> up.
>
> Contract farming will ruin the entire agricultural and food sector.
> It should be obvious that  the Govt is playing into the hands of the
> MNCs and rich farmers.
> Their strategy is to force all smaller farmers to quit in favour of
> the MNCs ... once the market is 'captured' .. the MNCs lobby will
> force you to pay Rs1000 per kg of rice :) and the Govt will suddenly
> start giving liberal subsidies to the corporate farmers (only).
>
> Removing restrictions on grain movement can hardly help.
>
> Best
>
> A. Mani
>
> --
> A. Mani
> ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS
> http://www.logicamani.co.cc
>
> On Sun, Jun 19, 2011 at 8:58 PM, S kumar <kumar_8134 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > What I do not understand is why should the Govt. procure the grains if
> they do
> > not have the infra-structure to store them properly? We find several
> visual
> > reports how lakhs of mt. of wheat and rice are damaged in open storage on
>
> >Railay
> > platforms and outside the FCI godowns- strangelky the godowns intended
> for
> > storing grains were rented out to private Co-s for soft drink storages!!
> >
> > The Supreme Court told UPA to distribute the grains rotting and getting
> damaged
> > by open storage in millions of MT, free to those below poverty line, and
> Sharad
> > Pawar replies the rules do not allow free supplies to the poor,
> preferring the
> > rotting grains bursting the seams of the bags and spilling out and the
> Cattle
> > and birds having a feast!!
> >
> > In today's Kerala TV news, the TV crew was shown visiting an FCI godown
> to
> show
> > that there was no space even in the veranda-s of the godown to store the
> grains
> > and it was being stacked outside the godown and covered with tarpaulins
> and
> >most
> > of the grains stored poutside became wet by the rains. The local Manager
> of
> the
> > FCI godown was seen assaulting the Camera crew of Amritha TV and they had
> to
> be
> > admitted in the hospital and one of the Cameras was damaged. Indeed the
> Central
> > Minister of State Thomas has ordered an enquiry but the fact remains that
> the
> > GOI is least bothered about proper storage of the procured grain in many
> parts
> > of India.
> >
> >
> > Only a week earlier similar problem in Bhopal came up and huge stacks of
> grains
> > stored in open were drenched by the premonsoon showers.
> >
> > Is there no accountability of the officials and Minister in such wilfful
> > negligence of duty?
> >
> > Why not remove all restrictions on the movement of grains within the
> Country
> > when there is surplus that cannot be procured and stored, and allow the
> demand
> > supply modus play in the market with good returns for the farmer?
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: A. Mani <a.mani.cms at gmail.com>
> > To: sarai list <reader-list at sarai.net>; The Moderates
> > <the-moderates at googlegroups.com>; issuesonline_worldwide at yahoogroups.com
> > Sent: Sun, June 19, 2011 6:58:56 PM
> > Subject: [issuesonline_worldwide] MSP FOR KHARIF CROPS 2011-12
> >
> > MSP FOR KHARIF CROPS 2011-12
> >
> > Govt Makes Mockery of Farmers’ Plight
> >
> > THROUGH a statement issued from New Delhi on June 11, the All India
> > Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has condemned the insensitive manner in which the
> > central government has come up with the announcement of the minimum
> > support prices (MSP) for kharif crops of 2011-12 season on June 9,
> > 2011. The announcement has been made without taking into consideration
> > the suggestions of the AIKS and other representatives of the farming
> > community placed before the Commission on Agricultural Costs and
> > Prices (CACP). The Kisan Sabha is of the opinion that the MSP
> > announced by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs is far below
> > the expectations of the peasantry and provides no incentive for
> > continued engagement with cultivation.
> >
> > It is notable that the CACP report on price policy for kharif crops
> > for 2010-11 had pointed out that the all-India projected cost of
> > production (C2) of paddy was Rs 766 per quintal. This is far below the
> > cost of production arrived at by even the state governments and
> > representatives of the peasantry. By the CACP’s own admission, the MSP
> > of paddy in 2009 at Rs 1,000 covered only the cost of production in 16
> > out of 18 states. The Swaminathan commission recommendation of fixing
> > MSP at C2+50 per cent has been totally ignored by the Congress-led
> > government. Had the government adhered to this, even with such
> > conservative estimation the MSP of paddy (common) should have been at
> > least Rs 1,149 in 2010-11. Now a full 12 months after that the
> > government has come with an announcement of Rs 1,080 and Rs 1,110 per
> > quintal of paddy common and grade A respectively, which is a meagre
> > increase of Rs 80 per quintal only. It is to be noted that the AIKS
> > had demanded Rs 1,500 per quintal and Rs 1,600 per quintal for paddy
> > (common) and paddy (grade A) respectively. The state of Kerala under
> > the LDF government had already announced Rs 1,400 per quintal for
> > paddy (common) along with other production incentives as well as
> > effective procurement.
> >
> > The Kisan Sabha has also noted that the procurement facilities are at
> > best skeletal in most of the states. Due to the absence of assured
> > procurement, farmers in many states are being forced to sell at as low
> > as Rs 600 per quintal and commission agents are making huge profits at
> > the expense of the poor farmers. The government has, on the other
> > hand, not done anything to address this problem; it is further taking
> > steps towards privatisation and opening up this sector for
> > agribusinesses. The peasantry will be entirely at the mercy of such
> > companies in future, the Kisan Sabha has warned.
> >
> > Despite the assessment of the CACP that in the case of coarse cereals
> > like ragi and jowar there was a significant rise in cost of production
> > of 30 per cent and 21 per cent respectively over 2009-10 and further
> > increases in input costs later on, the government has not paid any
> > heed to the demands for remunerative prices for coarse cereals
> > produced mostly by small and marginal farmers, many of whom are tribal
> > people. No effective procurement of these cereals is taking place
> > either. A meagre increase of Rs 85 and Rs 100 per quintal has been
> > announced for these crops. The MSP of pulses like arhar (turi) and
> > urad have been fixed at Rs 3,200 and Rs 3,300 per quintal
> > respectively. These are much lower than what the Kisan Sabha had
> > proposed for these crops --- Rs 4,000 per quintal for arhar (tur) and
> > Rs 3,800 for urad respectively at the CACP meeting.
> >
> > The organisation has termed as ironical the fact there was no increase
> > at all in prices of cotton from 2008-09 onwards despite studies by
> > reputed institutions like the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
> > Notably, these studies have cited the exorbitant input costs and
> > unremunerative returns for cotton farmers as the single largest cause
> > of suicides in Vidarbha, parts of Andhra Pradesh and other places. Now
> > the government has announced Rs 2,800 and Rs 3,400 respectively for
> > medium staple and long staple varieties respectively, which are way
> > below the expectations of the peasantry and the Kisan Sabha’s proposal
> > of Rs 4,500 and Rs 5,000 per quintal respectively.
> >
> > The MSP of groundnut and sunflower at Rs 2,700 and Rs 2,800 and of
> > soyabean’s black and yellow varieties at Rs 1,650 and Rs 1,690
> > respectively are also far below the expectations of farmers. The AIKS
> > had proposed Rs 3,500 for groundnut and sunflower and Rs 2,500 and Rs
> > 3,000 respectively for soyabean’s black and yellow varieties
> > respectively. The announcement of MSP for kharif crops 2011-12 does
> > not take into account the exorbitant increases in input costs,
> > especially the increase in prices of urea and fertilisers like MoP and
> > DAP as well as increase in the petrol and diesel prices.
> >
> > According to the AIKS, the government’s announcement has made a
> > mockery of the plight of farmers who are increasingly on the verge of
> > quitting agriculture due to unviable and unremunerative prices. The
> > organisation has demanded that the government come up with revised
> > MSPs in line with the realistic proposals put forward by the Kisan
> > Sabha and also hold a consultation involving the state governments,
> > representatives of the peasantry and experts to arrive at a consensus
> > on the method of calculating the costs of production.
> >
> > __________________________________________________________
> >
> > Best
> >
> > A. Mani
> >
> > --
> > A. Mani
> > ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS
> > http://www.logicamani.co.cc
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
>
> ------------------------------------
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