The government think tank Niti Aayog today met representatives from various state governments to discuss the new minimum support price mechanism. The purpose of the meeting was to ensure the implementation of MSP.

The states through the meeting are seeking working capital from the Centre to compensate the farmers.

Siraj Hussain, former Agriculture Secretary said that Centre would have discussed as to how can it fulfill the commitment made by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the budget.

During his Budget speech earlier this year, Jaitley had announced that farmers producing Kharif crops would be entitled to MSP which is at least 50 percent higher than their cost of production.

Another meeting will be held with the states next week before any final decision is taken.

Watch the interview of Siraj Hussain, Former Agri Secy with Manisha Gupta of CNBC-TV18.

First Published:Mar 9, 2018 11:07 AM IST