The modest increase in the minimum support price for a range of kharif crops announced by the Government ahead of the sowing season may not change sowing patterns much. Yet, even at the risk of adding to food inflation, it was probably warranted given the farm distress brought on by two successive years of sub-par monsoons. The increase was required to offer farmers hope of earning more from the new sowing season. Assuming that most farmers continue to grow the same crops they have been traditionally doing, the country looks set for a bumper crop of cereals, aided by a good monsoon, of course. The production of other crops too would rise helped by rains — and that includes pulses for which the Centre has set a target of 20.75 million tonnes. But this target is too modest, given that the country imported about 5.79 million tonnes last fiscal year.

The MSP regime has worked reasonably well in transferring incomes to rural areas, and till the Government finds a better alternative, it needs to continue raising the support price adjusting it for farm-level inflation. But MSP alone is not enough to lift the level of farm incomes. Productivity needs to improve. Yield per hectare for most crops in India is the lowest among economies with a large agriculture sector. Improvements in productivity will come only with a more scientific approach to agriculture and by investing in research to find better-yielding seeds. In the specific instance of pulses, just announcing a higher MSP is unlikely to increase sowing area. So far, there is no visible correlation between higher MSP and area under pulses. Rather, the record is mixed, and partly attributed to the weather. Kharif season sowing has shown better results than the rabi season. In fact, the area sown during the rabi season has declined from about 151.65 lakh ha in 2012-13 to 139.08 lakh ha in 2015-16. The area under pulses in the kharif season rose from 101.48 lakh ha in 2012-13 to 115.62 lakh ha in 2015-16.

India cannot be overly dependent on imports of pulses to provide for the nutritional needs of its people. The Centre, therefore, needs to take measures to increase the production of lentils and legumes domestically with increased yield as well as acreage. Farmers need to be better educated on the advantages of growing pulses and encouraged to dedicate more acreage for the crop. That apart, the Centre needs to strengthen the procurement system for pulses across the country and enlighten the small farmers particularly about the MSP regime and the procurement process. The National Sample Survey Organisation studies show that most small farmers are unaware of MSP and procurement agencies. Growing pulses is also a step towards more sustainable farming as, unlike cereals and sugarcane, pulses require a lot less water and help improve soil fertility.

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