Even as Kerala government announced a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for 16 vegetables and fruits, the decision has been taken with a pinch of salt by many of the state’s growers.
Delay in getting payments, bureaucracy and issues over pricing involved are the general concerns of the farmers. Agriculture department officials are also concerned over the practical issues involved in the mass procurement of perishable items.
The state government maintained that the MSPs. which will come into effect from Nov 1. fixed by adding 20 percent margin to the minimum production cost of each commodity. Procurement will be mainly through government agencies Horticorp and Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam. The farmers will have to register in the state's agriculture information management system and should also try to get crop insurance.
One banana farmer told that the MSPs fixed for banana were reasonable. On the other hand, Pineapple Growers Association of Kerala president Baby John said that the fixed price for pineapple was not at all reasonable as the government itself earlier estimated that the cost of production of bananas was higher than that.
