Pawar on the tough task of price balancing

Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the government finds it difficult to balance the responsibility of giving better price to farmers and at the same time providing food grains at cheaper rates to poor people.

"The government has two key responsibilities. One is to give better price to farmers and another is to supply food grains at reasonable rates to poor. It is very difficult to strike the balance," Pawar said at the annual Krishi Mela, organised by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute.

Pawar said it is important to encourage farmers by giving better price for their produces. More than 60 per cent of the population are engaged in agriculture and they produce foodgrains to meet the demand of the entire nation, he added.

The minister highlighted that the government has raised the minimum support price of a few food grains like wheat whose MSP has been increased to Rs 1,100 per quintal. Although the government has raised the MSP of food grains, it has kept prices of food grains supplied through ration shops for poor people, the minister said.