Cabinet approves Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Copra for 2022 season

Tags: National News

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for copra for 2022 season. 
• The decision is based on recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP)
• It assures a minimum of 50 percent as margin of profit as one of the important and progressive steps towards making possible doubling of farmers' incomes by 2022.
• Copra refers to the dried sections of the meet of coconut from which coconut oil is expelled. The MSP declared is for Fair Average Quality (FAQ) of both ball copra and milling copra (for coconut oil).

Detailed

Minimum Support Price (MSP)

• MSP is the rate at which the government purchases crops from farmers, and is based on a calculation of at least one-and-a-half times the cost of production incurred by the farmers.
• MSP is a “minimum price” for any crop that the government considers as remunerative for farmers and hence deserving of “support”.
• MSP is fixed twice a year separately for Kharif and Ravi Seasons.
• MSP doesnt have any legal backing.
• The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) recommends MSPs for 22 mandated crops and fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane.
• CACP is an attached office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• The mandated crops are-

• Cereals - Paddy, Wheat, Maize, Sorghum, Pearl millet, Barley, Ragi
• Pulses - Chickpea / Gram, Tur, Moong, Urad, Lentil
• Oilseeds - Peanut, Rapeseed, Soyabean, Sesame, Sunflower, Safflower, Niger seed
• Commercial crops - Copra, Sugarcane, Cotton, Raw jute

• Factors for Recommending the MSP:

     The CACP considers various factors while recommending the MSP for a commodity, including cost of cultivation.

• The supply and demand situation for the commodity, 
• Market price trends (domestic and global) and parity vis-à-vis other crops
• Implications for consumers (inflation)
• Environment (soil and water use) and 
• Terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture sectors.