CCEA hikes paddy MSP to Rs 1,410 per quintal for 2015-16

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday increased the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy by Rs 50 to Rs 1,410 per quintal for this year.

Sources said, "CCEA has approved increase in the MSP of paddy for the 2015-16 kharif season."

The decision on paddy is in line with the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), a government advisory body.

For 2014-15 kharif season, the government had fixed the MSP of common variety paddy at Rs 1,360 and grade A variety grain at Rs 1,400 per quintal.

MSP is the rate at which government buys the grain from farmers.

Paddy is the main crop grown in the kharif (summer) season. Sowing of kharif crops has already started with the onset of the South-West monsoon from June.

According to government data, area sown under the rice crop was higher at 4.71 lakh hectares till the last week of this season as against 4.52 lakh hectares in the same period last year.

Rice production is pegged at 102.54 million tonnes in the ongoing 2014-15 crop year (July-June) as against the record 106.65 million tonnes in the previous year. An increased MSP may encourage farmers for greater sowing of paddy.