Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday hailed the decision of the Union government for steep hike in Minimum Support Price (MSP) of 14 Kharif crops which would provide a great relief to 12 crore farmers of the country.

Terming it as a historic decision, he said the long pending demand of the farmers for last two decades has been fulfilled by the Modi government.

“This decision would also prove to be milestone to accomplish the target of the Union government to double the income of farmers by 2022,” he said.

Thakur said the MSP for paddy, which is the main summer crop, has been enhanced by a record Rs 200 per quintal that will help in providing farmers 50 percent more rate than their cost of production.

The MSP of cotton (medium staple) has been raised to Rs 5,150 from Rs 4,020 and that of cotton (long staple) to Rs 5,450 from 4,320 per quintal.

Read | PM Modi announces highest-ever increase in MSP for paddy crop

Similarly, in pulses, tur MSP has been raised to Rs 5,675 per quintal from Rs 5,450, and that of moong to Rs 6,975 per quintal from Rs 5,575. Urad MSP has been hiked to Rs 5,600 from Rs 5,400 per quintal and that of tur and urad has been raised by up to 66 percent over their production cost, which was a welcome step, he said.

The Chief Minister also welcomed sharp hike in MSP of oilseeds including soybean, groundnut, sunflower seed, sesamum and niger seed.

Thakur said this decision of the government of India would also benefit the farmers of Himachal Pradesh where 90 percent population was still dependent on agriculture and allied sectors.

This would certainly give a major boost to farmer’s income, he added.

The Member of Parliament (MP) from Hamirpur Anurag Thakur also lauded the Union cabinet’s decision to hike Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Kharif crops.

He said farmers were the strength of the country and PM Modi was launching various schemes for farmers’ welfare and double their income.

“BJP government is committed to improve financial condition of the farmers of the country. This can be gauged from the fact that Congress-led UPA government had allocated around Rs 1.21 lakh crore for agriculture sector during 2009-2014 while the Modi government had allocated Rs 2.11 lakh crore in the last five years,” he said.

“In addition, Indian government with a view to double farmers’ income by 2022, has made an allocation of Rs 14.34 lakh crore to develop basic infrastructure in rural areas,” he added.