New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to the Centre, Punjab, and Haryana governments in response to a plea seeking the fixation of minimum support price (MSP) for alternative crops grown by farmers. The plea also seeks periodic increases in MSP and government procurement of these crops.

A bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan directed the Centre, along with the States of Punjab and Haryana, pollution control boards, agricultural universities, and ICAR to respond to the petition filed by advocate Charanpal Singh Bagri. The bench scheduled the matter for hearing in the second week of July.

The petition argues for setting MSP for "alternative crops" higher than the MSP for paddy. Bagri highlighted the challenges faced by farmers in Punjab and Haryana due to the current focus on wheat and paddy, which have government-set MSPs and are procured by the government. He pointed out that the cultivation of paddy primarily leads to the rapid depletion of underground drinking water, air pollution due to stubble burning, and financial burdens on the State for storing excess paddy during the season.

Bagri emphasized the need for providing farmers with new crop options suitable for their geographical location and soil quality, along with fixing MSPs for each crop. The petition also called for agricultural universities to introduce new varieties of seeds for pulses and other crops imported from foreign countries. Bagri suggested that the MSPs should be set at higher rates, and farmers should be required to use a limited quantity of pesticides to produce organic crops. The absence of MSPs and government procurement, Bagri argued, has led to a dire situation for farmers, many of whom feel compelled to resort to suicide.

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