NEW DELHI: A day after the Centre lifted the minimum age export price of onion And Basmati riceand increased import duties on edible oilsPrime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister of State for Home and Cooperation Amit Shah and Union Minister of Agriculture Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday stressed that these decisions will not only boost exports but also ensure that farmers get better price for their crops. “We are leaving no stone unturned for the welfare of our farmer brothers and sisters who are working day and night to ensure food security of the country… such decisions (on onion, basmati rice and edible oils) will benefit our food producers immensely. While these decisions will increase their income, employment opportunities in rural areas will also increase,” Modi said in his remarks, responding to Chouhan’s multiple posts on X about the benefits of the “farmer-friendly” decisions.
The government on Friday decided to abolish the minimum export price (MEP) for onions and reduce the export duty on them from 40% to 20%, abolish the MEP on basmati rice and increase the import duty on crude palm oil, soya oil and sunflower oil from 12.5% to 32.5% and on refined oils from 13.75% to 35.75%.
Referring to the three decisions, Shah in his message on X said that the government is encouraging exports to ensure that farmers get a fair price for their crops, thereby enabling them to earn maximum value for their produce. He stated that the move on onions will result in an increase in income for onion producing farmers, while the decision on basmati rice would enable basmati rice producing farmers to export and earn higher profits. Chouhan echoed Shah’s views and said all oilseed farmers, especially soyabean and green gram farmers, will get good prices, the harvest of which will hit the market soon. Moreover, the production of soya ‘khali’ will also increase and it will be exported, he added. The Agriculture Minister also stressed that the decision on edible oils will help increase the area under oilseeds, including mustard, during the upcoming Rabi season (winter sowing season). According to him, the measure will increase the demand for mustard, sunflower and groundnut crops for refined oil.
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