The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved hikes in the minimum support prices (MSPs) of six key rabi or winter-sown crops, ranging from ₹130 to ₹300 a quintal (100 kg). MSPs influence what farmers decide to grow because they serve as an indicator of income from crops.
MSPs are federally fixed floor rates at which the government buys farm produce to help avoid distress sales. They are hiked twice a year, for summer and winter crops.
The Cabinet raised the MSP for wheat by ₹150 a quintal, from ₹2,275 to ₹2,425. Mustard saw a higher hike of ₹300, bringing its MSP to ₹5,950 per quintal, a step in line with the government’s policy to incentivise oilseeds, a scare clutch of commodities. The MSP for gram was increased by ₹210 to ₹5,650 per quintal
“The major decision taken by the cabinet is related to the welfare of the farmers. Like in Kharif, there is a significant increase in the MSP for rabi crops,” Union information & broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters on the Cabinet’s decisions.
To expand the production of oilseeds, which are pressed to make edible oils, the Cabinet increased the support price for safflower by ₹140 to ₹5,940 per quintal from ₹5,800 per quintal in the previous year.
{{/usCountry}}To expand the production of oilseeds, which are pressed to make edible oils, the Cabinet increased the support price for safflower by ₹140 to ₹5,940 per quintal from ₹5,800 per quintal in the previous year.
{{/usCountry}}The MSP for lentil (masur) has been raised by ₹275 to ₹6,700 per quintal, while that for barley has gone up by ₹130 to ₹1,980 per quintal for 2025-26 rabi marketing season, from ₹1,850 per quintal a year ago.
The increase in the MSPs is in line with the practice of fixing the rates at a level of at least 1.5 times the all-India weighted average cost of production, first announced in the Union Budget 2018-19. Going by the cultivation costs, the expected margin for wheat is 105% for wheat, followed by 98% for rapeseed and mustard, 89% for lentil, 60% for gram, 60% for barley and 50% for safflower, according to a Cabinet release.
Farmers tend to be benefit from MSPS in states where procurement mechanism – or the government’s buying of farm produce -- is robust, such as Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh for wheat, and Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana in case of paddy.
“The hikes in MSP hardly covers rising input costs on labour, pesticides and diesel incurred by farmers. Moreover, MSP is merely symbolic for most commodities other than paddy because the government either doesn’t procure them or procures token quantities,” said Dharmesh Tikait, a leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union.