The Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES), an attached office of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, collects, disseminates and publishes statistics on diverse facets of agriculture and related sectors required for policy formulation by the Government. Among the various functions of the DES, the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) has great relevance in price fixation based on the recommendations made by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). The most important factor considered by the CACP in making its recommendations on MSPs for different crops is the cost of cultivation / production for which the database is provided by the DES through its plan scheme on cost of cultivation. Minimum Support Prices of various agricultural commodities form the basis of Agriculture Price Policy in India. Cost of Cultivation scheme is implemented to evaluate the expenditure incurred by the cultivators on various inputs for the crops under study. These estimates and related statistics are also used for a wide variety of other important purposes like compilation of National Accounts Statistics, computation of Wholesale Price Indices, research studies on cost of cultivation and farm income etc.