Farmers in Punjab are protesting against the Center, demanding a law to guarantee minimum support price (MSP) for their crops. But farmers in Punjab are not only getting the highest returns on their paddy and wheat crops above their cost of production (in short, the best MSP), but they are also seeing more crops being procured at this rate than any other There are many states and governments. reports show.

For example: The latest government report says that in the last season for which data is available, 99% of Punjab’s paddy crop and 74% of its wheat crop were procured by MSP. The total rice procurement volume last season was highest in Punjab, reaching 12.3 million tons. The state accounted for the highest proportion of rice procurement in the country, close to 22%. Although Punjab accounts for 10% of the country’s rice production. In the 2023-24 season, nearly 74 per cent of the wheat produced in Punjab was procured at MSP, with the state’s procurement share being the highest in the country at nearly 40 per cent. Punjab’s wheat purchases increased by 25% in the latest season.

Do MSP Math

MSP crop returns to farmers in Punjab are also the best in the country. These returns are calculated based on three basic parameters: gross value of output (GVO), A2 and A2+FL costs. As far as rice is concerned, Punjab ranks first in all three aspects. “In terms of rice cultivation, Punjab has achieved the highest GVO (gross value of output) (Rs 1,36,636 per hectare). Punjab has the highest moong GVO (Rs 1,02,047 per hectare); in cotton, the highest GVO is Punjab (Rs. 1,42,239 per hectare). In terms of rice cultivation, Punjab has the highest total return for A2 and A2+FL cost per hectare at Rs. 88,287 and Rs. 82,037 respectively. During the month, Punjab has the highest total return for A2 and A2+FL cost per hectare. The returns are highest at Rs 75,256 and Rs 72,719 respectively. In terms of cotton, A2 and A2+FL have the highest cost per hectare in Punjab at Rs 89,474 and Rs 81,582 respectively,” the government report said.

Another parameter is the margin of MSP relative to the expected CoP A+FL. This ratio is highest for rice and wheat in Punjab. The government report said MSP profit was highest in Punjab (152.6%) compared to projected CoP A+FL for rice and wheat (173.5%). For wheat, Haryana has the highest GVO, followed by Punjab (Rs. 1,01,905 per hectare). Among the top five wheat-producing states in India, Punjab and Haryana have higher returns than the all-India average. The per capita purchase of rice by farmers in Punjab is 11.9 tons, the highest in the country. Last season, MSP procured nearly 184 million tonnes of paddy from Punjab, and the beneficiary farmers accounted for more than 100% of the total farmers in Punjab.

So is this politics?

Jagjit Singh Dallewal, the face of the current farmers’ protests, said the farmers’ protests are aimed at “bringing down” Prime Minister Narendra Modi because since Ayodhya This phenomenon has existed since the opening of the Ram Temple. Dhalewal also mentioned the “very short window” for the job, alluding to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. This has now led government sources to question whether the current protests have tacit political support from the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress.

The current protests consist mainly of farmers from Punjab, and unlike in 2020, farmers from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh did not participate. Early leaders of the farmers’ protests, such as Gurnam Singh Charuni and Balbir Singh Rajewal, have now disappeared from the scene. The AAP governments in Punjab and Delhi have been supportive of the protesting farmers’ intention to enter the capital to protest, but have made no effort to block their plea in Punjab or allow the Center to convert the Bawana Stadium into a makeshift jail.

The answer, say BJP workers, may well lie in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Punjab, where the AAP and Congress are trying to get on the “right side” of farmers to win a majority of the state’s 13 Lok Sabha seats. With the Akali Dal and the BJP’s chances declining in Punjab, where the Amar Aadmi Party and the Congress are in direct competition, the AAP is keen to increase its support in the state it currently rules.

AAP president Arvind Kejriwal is also facing pressure from the Enforcement Directorate and has been summoned by the courts and the ED.

“Farmers in Punjab have nothing to protest against. They have been provided with the best benefits, even beyond the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission. The protest comes ahead of the Lok Sabha elections,” a senior BJP leader said With political implications, all other cards played against Narendra Modi failed at that time.