Ministry of Tribal Affairs has announced Inclusion of 23 additional Minor Forest Produce (MFP) in minimum support price

To regulate minor forest produce and make sure the tribes make maximum out of it

• Ministry of Tribal Affairs has announced inclusion of 23 additional Minor Forest
  Produce (MFP) items in Minimum Support Price (MSP) list
• They include Van Tulsi seeds, Van Jeera, Mushroom, Black Rice and Johar Rice
  among others
• The decision enhancing the coverage from 50 to 73 items comes in view of the
  COVID-19 pandemic so that much needed support could be provided to the tribal MFP
  gatherers

Key highlights of the Inclusion

• It has been announced under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme titled “Mechanism
  for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP)” through Minimum Support Price (MSP)
  and development of value chain of MFP”
• This decision enhancing the coverage from 50 to 73 items comes in view of the
  exceptional and very difficult circumstances currently prevailing in the country on
  account of the COVID-19 Pandemic
• The potential of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs scheme to offer the much needed
  support to the tribal MFP gatherers
• This recommendation of additional items on 26 May, 2020 is over and above the
  previous notification issued on May 1, 2020, in which the MSP revisions for the
  existing 50 MFPs were announced
• The increase across various items of Minor Forest Produce ranged from 16% to
  66%
• The increase is also expected to provide an immediate and much needed
  momentum to procurement of Minor Tribal Produce across all States
• 14 of the newly added items, otherwise agricultural produce, are not commercially
  grown in the North Eastern part of India but are found to grow in the wild in forests
• Hence, the Ministry has favorably considered including these specific items as MFP
  items for the North-East

The details of the newly included items along with their MSP

What is “Minimum Support Price”?

• Minimum Support Price (MSP) is a form of market intervention by the Government
  of India to insure agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices
• The minimum support prices are announced by the Government of India at the
  beginning of the sowing season for certain crops on the basis of the recommendations
  of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP)
• MSP is price fixed by Government of India to protect the producer – farmers –
  against excessive fall in price during bumper production years
• The minimum support prices are a guarantee price for their produce from the
  Government
• The major objectives are to support the farmers from distress sales and to procure
  food grains for public distribution

Pic courtesy : mdailyhunt.in