Is MSP the sole means of rescuing farmers from their plight?

S Venkateshwari
Is MSP the sole means of rescuing farmers from their plight?


There has been a fight among farmers for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for about 2.5 years. Three rules introduced by the central government sparked this farmers' uprising. While the opposition parties and farmers' organizations referred to this legislation as a step that would be convenient for the capitalists, the administration promoted them as agricultural improvements.

This dispute arose during the height of the second coronavirus pandemic, which affected india as well as the rest of the world. Farmers began to demand a guarantee of minimum support price, or MSP, on crops once these regulations were introduced. Making such a commitment is difficult for the government since it might significantly strain the public coffers. However, the question remains as to whether the indian farmers' situation and trajectory will be better with the promise of a minimum support price. Let's look at some numbers that illustrate the state of farmers before attempting to address this question.

In villages, there is no other option for employment but to work in agriculture. Seventy percent of the population worked in agriculture when india gained its independence. This industry also accounted for 54% of the nation's total income. However, the agricultural sector's contribution to the national product decreased year after year. Examining the data for 2019–20, we see that agriculture's contribution to the GDP stayed below 17 percent.

Concurrently, the proportion of individuals connected to agriculture has decreased. Currently, just 54% of people work in agriculture, compared to 70% at the time of independence. Even more startling is one of the figures in this. The committee established in 2017 to double farmers' income discovered that although agriculture's contribution to the nation's GDP is declining, the number of people employed in this industry is rising. This indicates unequivocally that, despite agriculture turning into a losing venture in and of itself, this industry continues to play a leading role in giving the unemployed in rural a place to live.


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