The minimum support prices (MSPs) for both kharif and rabi seasons 2023-24 ensured a minimum return of 50 per cent over the cost of production for all crops, said the Reserve Bank's Annual Report released on Thursday. The overall public stock of foodgrains as on March 31, 2024 stood at 2.9 times the total quarterly buffer norm, the report said. On November 29, 2023, the government extended the scheme of free distribution of foodgrains under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) for five more years, effective from January 1, 2024. The report, which is a statutory report of RBI's central board of directors, noted that the agriculture and allied activities faced headwinds from the uneven and deficient south-west monsoon (SWM) rainfall coinciding with strengthening El Nino conditions. The overall SWM rainfall in 2023 (June-September) was 6 per cent below long period average (LPA) at the all-India level. As per the second advance estimates, the production of kharif and r