Swaminathan Commission recommended 50% returns over costs as MSP which UPA govt rejected: Agri Minister Chouhan

New Delhi: Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in Rajya Sabha on Friday that the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh-led UPA government had rejected the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendation that MSPs should offer 50 per cent returns over costs of cultivation.

Placing a cabinet note of previous Manmohan Singh's government, Chouhan said it had refused to accept suggestions of the Swaminathan Commission saying that mechanical linkage between MSP and cost of production would distort the market.

“On the Swaminathan report’s recommendation that MSP should give 50% returns over costs, the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government clearly stated, and, I’m quoting Cabinet notes, that implementing this suggestion can create market distortions,” Chouhan said during Question Hour.

The Swaminathan panel, officially the National Commission on Farmers, was set up by the Manmohan Singh government to make agriculture productive. It submitted five reports between December 2004 and October 2006.

Chouhan said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government had the highest purchase under MSP from farmers.

Referring to data of the previous UPA government, Chauhan said between 2003-2004 and 2013-14, only 45 crore metric tonnes were purchased under the Minimum Support Price (MSP).

The present NDA government has procured a total of 69.18 crore metric tonnes between 2014-15 and 2023-24, he said