Ahead of upcoming Assembly elections, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided to raise the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for all required Rabi crops for the 2024-25 marketing season. The decision was taken in a meeting which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Notably, the government procures crops from farmers at the support price through its agencies.
The highest increase in MSP has been approved for lentil (masur dal) at Rs 425 per quintal followed by rapeseed and mustard at Rs 200 per quintal. For wheat and safflower, an increase of Rs 150 per quintal each has been approved. For barley and gram, the MSP has been increased by Rs 115 per quintal and Rs 105 per quintal respectively.
Check the latest MSP of rabi crops
Currently, the MSP of wheat stands at Rs 2,125 per quintal for the 2023-24 marketing season (April-March). Wheat is the main rabi (winter) crop and its sowing begins in October while harvesting starts from April. The MSP of wheat has been raised to Rs 2,275 per cent quintal for the 2024-25 marketing season from Rs 2,125 per quintal in 2023-24. The current increase in wheat MSP is the highest since 2015-16. The previous increase was in the range of Rs 100-110 per quintal announced for four marketing seasons -- 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2023-24.
Among rabi pulses, the MSP of gram has been increased by Rs 105 to Rs 5,440 per quintal for 2024-25 as against Rs 5,335 per quintal in 2023-24 while that of lentil (masur) has been hiked by Rs 425 to Rs 6,425 per quintal from Rs 6,000 per quintal. In order to promote oilseed cultivation, the government increased rapeseed-mustard seed MSP by Rs 200 to Rs 5,650 per quintal for 2024-25 marketing season, from Rs 5,450 per quintal in the 2023-24 season. The MSP of safflower has been increased by Rs 150 to Rs 5,800 per quintal for 2024-25 from Rs 5,650 per quintal.
Anurag Thakur's statement on MSP hike
Addressing the media after the cabinet meeting, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said the cabinet has approved the increase in the MSP of six mandated rabi crops for the 2024-25 marketing season. "Based on the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices(CACP) recommendation, we have increased the MSP of six rabi crops," he said. Asked about the impact of wheat MSP increase on food inflation, the minister said India has kept the inflation under check during and post-pandemic period.
It should be mentioned here that MSP is the minimum rate at which the grain is purchased by the government procurement agencies. India has three cropping seasons -- Summer, Kharif, and Rabi. Crops that are sown during October and November and the produce harvested from January depending on maturity are Rabi. Crops sown during June-July and dependent on monsoon rains are harvested in October-November are kharif. Crops produced between Rabi and Kharif are Summer crops.
(With inputs from agencies)
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