Consider the following statements regarding the procurement of food-grains:
1. Government of India follows a procurement target rather than an open-ended procurement policy.
2. Government of India announces minimum support price only for cereals.
3. NAFED is the nodal procurement agency for Oilseeds and pulses, apart from the Cotton Corporation of India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1 and 3
The Minimum Support Prices were announced by the Government of India for the first time in 1966-67 for Wheat in the wake of the Green Revolution and extended harvest, to save the farmers from depleting profits. Since then, the MSP regime has been expanded to many crops. Minimum Support Price is the price at which government purchases crops from the farmers, whatever may be the price for the crops. The MSP is announced by the Government of India for 25 crops currently at the beginning of each season viz. Rabi and Kharif.
If there is a fall in the prices of the crops, after a bumper harvest, the government purchases at the MSP and this is the reason that the priced cannot go below MSP. So this directly helps the farmers.
The government decided the support prices for various agricultural commodities after taking into account the following:
1. Recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices
2. Views of State Governments
3. Views of Ministries
4. Other relevant factors.
The Department of Agriculture and Cooperation implements the Price Support Scheme for Oil Seeds and Pulses through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED). NAFED is the nodal procurement agency for Oilseeds and pulses, apart from the Cotton Corporation of India. So, when the prices of oilseeds, pulses and cotton fall below MSP, NAFED purchases them from the farmers.
For distribution under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), wheat and rice are issued by the Government of India at uniform central issue prices to the States/Union Territories.