Context: Recently, TRIFED under Ministry of Tribal Affairs has asked the State Nodal Departments and Implementing Agencies to initiate procurement of Minor Forest Produces (MFPs) at Minimum Support Price (MSP) from the available funds under MSP for MFP Scheme.
About MSP for MFP Scheme 

• The scheme, launched by the Centre in August 2013, provides fair price for MFP collected by tribals through MSP. 
• It is designed as a social safety net for improvement of livelihood of MFP gatherers by providing them fair price for the MFPs they collect. 
• MFP comprises all non-timber forest produce of plant origin such as bamboo, brush wood, stumps, cane, tussar, cocoons, honey, wax, lac, tendu or kendu leaves, medicinal plants and herbs, roots, tubers, etc, according to the Forest Rights Act, 2006. 
• The Scheme was been implemented in eight States having Schedule areas as listed in the Fifth Schedule of the constitution of India. 
• From November 2016, the scheme is applicable in all States.

Key features of the scheme

• Ensure that the tribal population gets a remunerative price for the produce they collect from the forest and provide alternative employment avenues to them.
• Establish a system to ensure fair monetary returns for forest dweller’s efforts in collection, primary processing, storage, packaging, transportation etc, while ensuring sustainability of the resource base.
• Get them a share of revenue from the sales proceeds with costs deducted.

Significance

• Such measures are necessary for mitigating the impact of lockdown on tribal communities.
• This will provide much required livelihood support to the tribal gatherers and obviate the movement of middlemen from urban areas to tribal habitations, thus checking any eventuality of spread of corona virus among tribal communities.

Implementation of this Scheme

• The responsibility of purchasing MFP on MSP will be with State designated agencies.
• To ascertain market price, services of market correspondents would be availed by the designated agencies particularly for major markets trading in MFP.
• The scheme supports primary value addition as well as provides for supply chain infrastructure like cold storage, warehouses etc.
• The Ministry of Tribal Affairs will be the nodal Ministry for implementation and monitoring of the scheme. The Minimum Support Price would be determined by the Ministry with technical help of TRIFED.

How many crops are covered for MSP?

• Government announces minimum support prices (MSPs) for 22 mandated crops and fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane. The mandated crops are 14 crops of the kharif season, 6 rabi crops and two other commercial crops.

In addition, the MSPs of toria and de-husked coconut are fixed on the basis of the MSPs of rapeseed/mustard and copra, respectively. The list of crops are as follows.

• Cereals (7): paddy, wheat, barley, jowar, bajra, maize and ragi
• Pulses (5): gram, arhar/tur, moong, urad and lentil
• Oilseeds (8): groundnut, rapeseed/mustard, toria, soyabean, sunflower seed, sesamum, safflower seed and nigerseed
• Raw cotton, Raw jute, Copra, De-husked coconut, Sugarcane (Fair and remunerative price, Virginia flu cured (VFC) tobacco

About Minor Forest Produce

• It is basically a subset of forest produce and got a definition only in 2007 when the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, was enacted.
• According to Section 2(i) of the said Act, Minor Forest Produce (MFP) are all non-timber forest produce of plant origin and includes bamboo, brushwood, stumps, canes, Tusser, cocoon, honey, waxes, Lac, tendu/kendu leaves, medicinal plants and herbs, roots, tuber and the like.
• Thus, the definition of “minor forest produce” includes bamboo and cane, thereby changing the categorization of bamboo and cane as “trees” under the Indian Forest Act 1927.
• The Minor Forest Produces provide both subsistence and cash income for people who live in or near forests. They form a major portion of their food, fruits, medicines and other consumption items and also provide cash income through sale.
• The importance of Minor Forest Produces for this section of the society can be gauged from the facts that around 100 million forest dwellers depend on Minor Forest Produces for food, shelter, medicines and cash income.
• It is important for them for food, shelter medicines and case income beside providing critical subsistence during the lean seasons, particularly for primitive tribal groups such as hunter gatherers, and the landless.
• Tribals derive 20-40% of their annual income from Minor Forest Produce on which they spend major portion of their time. Minor Forest Produce sector has the potential to create about 10 million workdays annually in the country.

About Minimum Support Price

• It is a form of market intervention by the Government of India to insure agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices. 
• These are announced by the Government of India at the beginning of the sowing season for certain crops on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
• MSP is price fixed by Government of India to protect the producer – farmers – against excessive fall in price during bumper production years.
• The minimum support prices are a guarantee price for their produce from the Government. 
• In case the market price for the commodity falls below the announced minimum price due to bumper production and glut in the market, government agencies purchase the entire quantity offered by the farmers at the announced minimum price.
• Objective: The major objectives are to support the farmers from distress sales and to procure food grains for public distribution.

Major factors that are considered by the authorities while fixing the MSP are:

• Cost of production, Changes in input prices, Input-output price parity, Trends in market prices, Demand and supply, Inter-crop price parity, Effect on industrial cost structure, Effect on cost of living, Effect on general price level, International price situation, Parity between prices paid and prices received by the farmers and Effect on issue prices and implications for subsidy