New Delhi: Experts say that three schemes unveiled on September 12 by the Central government to ensure farmers get federally fixed minimum support prices (MSPs) are fraught with financial and operational challenges.

A growing number of economists are now pitching for a radical shift in the way government supports agriculture: from subsidies towards a direct income transfer, or a lump sum payment to each cultivator. India has 118 million farmers, according to Census 2011 data.

They have also made a case for increasing investments and tapering off subsidies. It is a well-known fact, they argue, that a rupee invested in capital assets in agriculture is far more effective in reducing poverty than a similar investment in manufacturing.

The Telengana government has become the first state to try a version of direct income support. Under its Rythu Bandhu scheme, the state gives 5.83 million farmers Rs 4,000 per acre per cropping season as a direct investment benefit.

One key question with the three schemes, which the government has branded Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-ASHAA), is whether it will be able to cover a majority of farmers as well as 24 key commodities.

MSP, or minimum support price is set by the government taking into account cultivation costs and is supposed to act as a floor price for private trade, thereby helping avoid distress sale.

The three schemes are essentially designed to intervene in agricultural markets by way of procurement, which refers to the government’s purchase of commodities at MSPs in situations when markets fail farmers.

The first scheme, the price support scheme, is four-decades-old. The Modi government has pumped record money, rs 29,070 crore, in the 2017-18 crop season to buy 6.34 million tonnes of pulses and oilseeds from about 3.5 million farmers until June 22 to cushion a crash in prices, according to data from Nafed, the agency tasked with procurement.