The government has approved the MSP for 15 crops, which include rice, jowar, bajra, pulses, soybean, and cotton. While the MSP for nigerseed, ragi, and cotton have been improved substantially, rice or paddy, which forms the bulk of Kharif production, has seen an increase of just 3 percent in its MSP.

Written by FE Business

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 2.07 lakh crore for the Kharif crop for the marketing season 2025-26. The government has approved the MSP for 15 crops, which include rice, jowar, bajra, pulses, soybean, and cotton. 

While the MSP for nigerseed, ragi, and cotton have been improved substantially, rice or paddy, which forms the bulk of Kharif production, has seen an increase of just  3 percent in its MSP. 

Rice  MSP remains stagnant 

The union government has fixed the MSP of rice or paddy at Rs 2369 per quintal (100 KG). The MSP of rice is increased by just Rs 69 as it was Rs 2300 per quintal last year. This is the lowest increase in MSP of rice in the last 5 years. Last year, it was increased by 5.4 percent. 

India is the second-largest rice producer and the top exporter in the world. It has about a 40 percent share in the export market. It forms about 96 percent of the total Kharif crop production in the country. As per the Cabinet Committee data, in the last ten years, 2014-15 to 2024-25, 7608 lakh metric tonnes of rice were procured in India. For context, in the same period, the total quantity of 14 kharif procured was 7871 lakh metric tonnes. 

Rationale for fixing MSP

According to the government release, the Minimum Support Price is fixed with a view to providing at least 1.5 times the  All-India weighted average cost of production. The Cabinet Committee report says that the margin on cost for rice for farmers is at 50 percent. 

While the small rise in the MSP for rice could help the exporters to stay competitive in the world market, it can hurt the margins of  Indian farmers. 

MSP for other crops

Nigerseed has seen the highest increase of Rs 820 per quintal in MSP, as the current price now stands at Rs 8717 per quintal. MSP on Ragi and Cotton has increased by Rs 596 and Rs 589 per quintal, respectively. 

Pulses have also seen a good increase in their MSP. Arhar and Urad MSP have been increased by Rs 450 and 400 per quintal, while MSP for Moong has been increased by just Rs 89 per quintal. 

Published Date: May 30, 2025