Center Raises MSP for Six Winter Crops for 2024-25

On 18 Oct, the Union cabinet raised the Minimum Support Price (MSP) 2-7% for six rabi (winter crops) for marketing season 2024-25. The MSP on wheat is now assured at ₹2,275 per quintal up from ₹2,125 offered last season. Masur (lentil) is now assured at ₹6,425 from ₹6,000 last year. Other crops include barley, gram, mustard, and safflower. Despite the increase, the farmers will be at a loss. While the wheat hike is 7% year-on-year, the input cost of wheat has risen by 9%. The increased MSP does not yield profit. The farmers have been demanding a comprehensive new mechanism for 23 crops on the basis of the ‘C2 + 50%’ formula as proposed by the Swaminathan Report. The formula means input cost of capital plus the rent of the land (called C2) plus 50% return to farmers. The MSP hike seems to be another case of electioneering. General elections are scheduled for 2024. Meanwhile, during the ongoing paddy procurement in Panjab, rice sheller owners have been on strike, stalling the paddy lifting process over Food Corporation of India guidelines on fortified rice. On 19 Oct, nearly eighty rice sheller owners protested on the Mansa-Patiala highway, blocking traffic. Most agriculture-related protests in Panjab are by small and marginal Sikh farmers and laborers. The protesting sheller owners – dominantly Hindu – is a new development.