The BJP-led Union Government has once again cheated the farmers of India by declaring a paltry increase in Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for the Kharif season of 2026. This is in no way commensurate with the massive increase in the costs of inputs like seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, diesel, petrol, electricity, and water, especially in the context of the West Asian crisis. 

The announcement of MSP for Kharif crops for 2026–27 once again exposes the anti-farmer character of the Narendra Modi led Union Government. Despite repeated promises of implementing the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission to provide MSP at least 50 per cent above the comprehensive cost of cultivation (C2+50%), the newly announced MSP remains far below; it is still based on A2+FL costs which are much lower.  Farmers across the country will continue to suffer huge losses if compelled to sell their produce at these prices.

The prices of all inputs have sky-rocketed in the last one year. The Government is now using the excuse of the West Asian crisis situation to put even more burdens on the people through its austerity call. Fertilisers have already started becoming scarce and hoarders are raking in huge profits through the black-market. The latest NCRB figures also point out that farm suicides are continuing unabated due to the acute agrarian crisis. The only way out of this crisis is setting the MSP at one and a half times the comprehensive cost of production, and simultaneously declaring a complete loan waiver for the landless, poor, middle peasants and tenant farmers.  

According to the projected cost estimates for 2026–27, the MSP announced by the government for major Kharif crops is substantially lower than the C2+50% price. For paddy, the most important Kharif crop, the MSP has been fixed at Rs 2,441 per quintal, whereas the C2+50% price should be Rs 3,243 per quintal. This means a loss of Rs 802 per quintal for farmers. The BJP-ruled state of Haryana has estimated the production cost of paddy at Rs 2,696 and has demanded an MSP of Rs 2,996 accordingly and Maharashtra has shown the production cost as Rs 4,291 and has demanded an MSP of Rs 4,888.  Similarly, the MSP for maize is Rs 2,410 against a required C2+50% price of Rs 2,995.5, causing a loss of Rs 585.5 per quintal. Bajra farmers will lose Rs 634 per quintal, while Jowar cultivators will suffer losses of Rs 1,173 per quintal.

The situation is even more alarming in pulses and oilseeds. The MSP for Arhar (Tur) has been fixed at Rs 8,450 per quintal, whereas the C2+50% price should be Rs 10,995, implying a loss of Rs 2,545 per quintal. Urad farmers stand to lose Rs 2,232.5 per quintal and Moong farmers Rs 1,856.5 per quintal. Oilseed growers also face severe injustice. Groundnut farmers will lose Rs 1,820.5 per quintal, Soybean farmers Rs 1,610.5, Sunflower farmers Rs 1,867.5, Sesamum farmers Rs 3,266.5, and Nigerseed cultivators Rs 2,359 per quintal. Cotton farmers will suffer losses of Rs 2,357.5 per quintal under the newly announced MSP regime. The estimated production cost of soybean for Maharashtra is Rs 6,265, and accordingly, the state government has demanded an MSP of Rs 7,184. However, despite knowing that soybean farmers are already facing a crisis and are forced to commit suicide, keeping the MSP so low reflects the insensitivity of the Modi government.

The figures expose the hollowness of the government’s claims that farmers are receiving remunerative prices. Even these estimates are based on official projected costs, whereas the actual cost of cultivation faced by farmers is much higher due to continuously rising prices of seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, diesel, electricity, irrigation, machinery, and labour. The experience of previous years has already shown that even the announced MSP remain largely on paper because procurement mechanisms are weak and limited. Large sections of farmers are forced to sell below MSP due to the absence of guaranteed procurement.

The AIKS strongly condemns the Narendra Modi government for betraying farmers yet again and demands: Legal guarantee of MSP at C2+50% as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission, assured procurement for all crops with expansion of public procurement infrastructure in all states, reduction in input costs through subsidy support and withdrawal of anti-farmer policies favouring corporates and agri-business companies. The AIKS calls upon the peasants and workers of India to unitedly confront these challenges and fight consistently to defeat these pro-rich policies.