Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Tuesday again raised the issue of minimum support price (MSP) of paddy and demanded that the MSP must be 1.5 times the cost of production.

Targeting the Centre for delay in fixing the MSP, agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy said: "The Government of India decides the MSP by mid-June. But unfortunately, July has begun and the Centre is yet to fix the prices."

In a letter to Union minister for agriculture and farmers' welfare Radha Mohan Singh, state agriculture minister Maharathy said: "As recommended by the Swaminathan Committee, the MSP must be 1.5 times the full cost of the agriculture production. A specific proposal for the price of paddy, as unanimously recommended by the Assembly has been sent to the Government of India earlier."

Last year, the Centre had hiked the MSP on paddy from Rs 1,470 to Rs 1,550 per quintal.

However, Odisha is demanding that the MSP of paddy per quintal must be fixed at Rs 2,930.

The state has also objected to the recommendation of the Commission of Agricultural Costs and Prices for fixing Rs 1,745 and Rs 1,770 as the price for Common Grade and Grade A paddy respectively.

He also reminded the central government about the chief minister Naveen Patnaik's stand on the issue.

He said the robust mechanism for ensuring the MSP to farmers for pulses, oilseeds and coarse grains, all of which are rainfed crops and cultivated on less productive land by the most vulnerable farmers, is welcome.