Farmers’ coalition rejects India’s rabi crop support prices

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella organisation representing about 500 farmers’ groups, has rejected the recently announced minimum support prices for India’s upcoming rabi crops. In a statement issued on Saturday, the coalition described the increase as inadequate and accused the Narendra Modi government of failing to reflect farmers’ full production costs. It called on farmers and rural youth to burn copies of the government order in villages.

The organisation said the wheat MSP had risen by ₹25 per quintal, or 25 paise per kilogram. It argued that the increase did not provide meaningful relief and disputed the government’s description of the return as a 106% profit. The SKM said the government’s calculation used paid-out costs and family labour but excluded the notional rent of family-owned land and interest on the farmer’s own capital.

It argued that the comprehensive C2 cost should be used instead. The coalition referred to the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendation that MSP should be fixed at C2 plus 50%. It said that, even using data from the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, the wheat margin would be 43% rather than 106%, and that none of the rabi crops had received the demanded formula.

The organisation also criticised what it called the centralisation of pricing decisions and objected to pressure on States to discontinue bonuses for wheat and paddy. It demanded a legally guaranteed MSP based on a properly calculated C2 cost, along with revised prices of ₹3,418 for wheat, ₹3,518 for barley, ₹9,205 for gram, ₹9,947 for lentils, ₹8,684 for rapeseed and mustard, and ₹10,630 for safflower.