Farmers in states neighboring Delhi have put on hold their protest march towards the capital after the Union government proposed a five-year plan to buy pulses, maize, and cotton crops from them at the minimum support price, or MSP.
The fourth round of talks between leaders of the protesting farmers and the Union government in Chandigarh concluded late Sunday.
The protesting farmers have sought two days to discuss the government’s proposal in their forums, while a decision on their other key demands remains pending.
MSP refers to a price fixed by the government to protect farmers from any steep fall in crop prices. This guarantee acts as a safety net and prevents losses for farmers.
“Cooperative societies like the NCCF and Nafed will contract with farmers who grow tur dal, urad dal, masoor dal or maize to buy their crop at MSP for the next five years,” Union consumer affairs, food and public distribution minister Piyush Goyal told reporters after meeting with the farmers.
“Cereals like arhar or tur, urad, if brought under MSP, would lead to a reduction in imports, recover the depleted water level of Punjab, as well as provide economic pulses for consumers,” he said.
As per this proposal, the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Ltd and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd will sign contracts with farmers for the next five years for procuring the crops, with no limit on the buying quantity.
Goyal said the farmers also demanded that maize and cotton must be covered under MSP.
“For cotton, the Cotton Corporation of India will procure the entire crop on MSP and farmer leaders will convey their decision regarding the proposal by Monday morning,” Goyal informed.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann also joined the talks, which began at 8.15 pm on Sunday and ended at around 1 am on Monday.
Thousands of farmers from more than 200 farm unions joined the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and the Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) in their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march.
They began the protest on 13 February to press for several demands, including a state-guaranteed minimum price for 23 crops, a loan waiver, social security benefits such as pensions, and a revamp of the crop insurance scheme.
The farmers are also seeking higher duties on imported agricultural produce, as duty-free imports lead to lower farmgate prices.
The latest round of protests comes after muted farm earnings over the past year, during which the government placed export curbs on wheat, rice, sugar, and onion, depressing local prices. Farm incomes were hit also because of repeated climate shocks such as heatwaves and uneven rains.
On the fifth day of their march on Sunday, the farmers stayed put at the Shambhu and Khanauri points of the Punjab-Haryana border.
The article originally appeared on Livemint.