Farmers Reject Rabi MSP Hike, Call for Protests

New Delhi, Oct 3 (PTI) Farmers' body Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Saturday said it will not accept the minimum support prices for rabi crops for the 2027-28 marketing season announced by the government, and termed the Rs 25-per-quintal hike in wheat MSP an "insult" to foodgrain producers.

SKM also asked farmers and rural youth to burn copies of the government order in every village as a mark of protest.

The latest increase in wheat MSP amounted to just 25 paise per kg, SKM said and questioned the government's claim that the new MSPs provide a 106 per cent return over the cost of production.

The farmers' body said that the government's MSP calculation was based on 1.5 times the input cost in terms of A2+FL. This formula includes the actual cost (A2) paid out by farmers for seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, etc. and the imputed value of family labour (FL), but excludes the rental value of farmers' own land and interest on their own capital.

According to SKM, the comprehensive C2 cost should be used for fixing MSP. It claimed that, even on CACP's (Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices) data, the margin for wheat worked out to 43 per cent rather than 106 per cent.

"The 106 per cent jumla" and "not one Rabi crop gets C2+50%," SKM said in its statement.

The Union Cabinet on September 30 approved MSPs for six rabi crops for the 2027-28 marketing season, with the wheat MSP raised by Rs 25 to Rs 2,610 per quintal.

According to the SKM's calculations, wheat at Rs 2,610 per quintal is Rs 134 lower than its C2+50 per cent calculation of Rs 2,744. It mentioned the corrected C2 cost at Rs 2,279 and demanded the support price at Rs 3,418 per quintal under its C2+50 per cent calculation.

On the role of states, SKM said agriculture was a state subject and alleged that the price recommendations of state governments had been ignored by the Centre and the CACP.

It said Maharashtra had sought an MSP of Rs 4,525 per quintal for wheat last season, while Gujarat had sought Rs 4,200, West Bengal Rs 3,450 and Punjab Rs 3,168. Even Haryana's recommendation of Rs 2,652 was higher than the price fixed by the Centre, it said.


SKM also questioned the methodology used to calculate farm costs, saying CACP calculations were based on a 2011-12 index and that farmers' labour was valued as casual labour.

It claimed that diesel prices, a major input for tractors and pump sets, had increased four times in 10 days in May by around Rs 7.50 per litre, while wages alone had added around 2.5 per cent to costs. Against this, the government allowed only 2 per cent for all other costs.

SKM also raised concerns over the pace of foodgrain procurement, saying only around a quarter of the wheat crop was procured during the 2025-26 season.

"An MSP without procurement is a price on paper," it said.

The organisation demanded a legal guarantee for MSP at C2+50 per cent based on an "honestly calculated" cost of production, immediate revision of the MSPs to the levels demanded by it, respect for state price recommendations and full freedom for states to pay bonuses.

It also demanded the roll-back of diesel price hikes and ensure government procurement of every crop in every state.

Recalling the government's written assurance to SKM on MSP on December 9, 2021, the organisation said nearly five years later, the Centre's response was "25 paise a kilo".

SKM said farmers' organisations had earlier burnt copies of the three farm laws in villages and the laws were subsequently repealed.

It called upon its constituent organisations and rural youth to read out the new MSP order, burn copies of it and join protests at district headquarters.

The agitation would continue until a legal guarantee for MSP at C2+50 per cent was secured, SKM said.