The Congress on Thursday accused the Centre of betraying farmers in the name of minimum support price (MSP) and termed the approved rates for Kharif 2025 season as “far lower than the cost (C2) plus 50 per cent” formula recommended by the Swaminathan Commission. The All India Kisan Sabha, affiliated with CPI (M), also said that the new MSPs are ₹528-3,102 per quintal less than their C2 costs of production.
Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said the Centre is crediting itself for declaring a higher MSP for crops, but the reality is that the MSP is far lower than the cost (C2) plus 50 per cent formula recommended by the Swaminathan Commission. He also claimed that the government is hardly buying crops except wheat and paddy, and farmers are being cheated in the name of MSP.
MSP guarantee law
While briefing media, he shared a chart showing that only a fraction of crops has been purchased at the MSP by the Centre. Only 0.37 per cent of the total gram crop produced, 0.01 per cent of maize and 6.49 per cent of bajra was purchased by the government at MSP during 2023-24.
The Congress leader also said that the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Agriculture has recommended the government to make a law for MSP guarantee and to remove taxes from agriculture and farming, but the prime minister has thrown the report into the dust bin, he alleged.
On the other hand, Ashok Dhawale of AIKS in a statement, alleged that the MSP for the kharif season 2025-26 by the government is yet “another betrayal by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
“The BJP government has made tall claims that it has given a major boost to farmers by approving a MSP package worth ₹2.07 lakh crore for the Kharif season of 2025-26…In reality this claim is far removed from the truth. The government has indulged in a jugglery of numbers and distorted data to wilfully mislead the public,” he said.
Pointing out that the National Commission of Farmers under MS Swaminathan had said that farmer must be paid a remunerative price at least 50 per cent above the comprehensive cost of cultivation (C2), Dhawale said the MSP announced remains mostly on paper since there is no assured procurement.
He also said that the MSPs do not even meet expectations of many BJP-ruled State government as they had suggested higher rates based the cost of production in their own state.
Quoting CACP report, he said the C2+50 per cent price for paddy comes to ₹3,135 per quintal, but the declared MSP is only ₹2,369/quintal, which means a loss of ₹766 per quintal. Similarly, the MSP for maize is fixed at ₹2,400 per quintal, whereas the C2+50 per cent cost based on CACP’s projections is ₹2,928 per quintal, a loss of ₹528 per quintal. For sesamum, the MSP is ₹9,537 per quintal against the C2+50 per cent price of ₹12,948 per quintal, a (potential) loss of ₹3,102 per quintal for the farmer.
Published on May 29, 2025
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