New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Saturday strongly condemned the minimum support price announced by the Union Cabinet for 14 crops for the kharif season 2025-26 and slammed the government for not implementing the “C2 plus 50 per cent” formula for calculating MSP.
In a statement issued here, the umbrella body of farmer organisations said the Centre’s claim that it has increased the MSP of kharif crops for marketing season 2025-26 to ensure a remunerative price for the growers for their produce is “absolutely false”.
“The basic factor is that the MSP declared by the CCEA is not based on the Swaminathan Commission recommendation of C2+50 per cent. For example, the C2+50 per cent rate for paddy is Rs 3,135 per quintal. The MSP for paddy declared by the CCEA is Rs 2,369 per quintal, which is less by Rs 766 per quintal,” it said.
The SKM said the average paddy production in India is 25-30 quintals per acre and the loss suffered by a farmer on one-acre production will be in the range of Rs 19,150 to Rs 22,980, which is three times higher than the Rs 6,000 given to them under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme.
Similarly, for soyabean, the “C2 plus 50 per cent” rate is Rs 6,957, while the MSP declared is Rs 5,328 and farmers will suffer a loss of Rs 1,629 per quintal, it said. The average production per acre for soyabean is 6.1 quintal and hence, the accumulated loss for soyabean farmers per acre will be Rs 9,936, the SKM added.
“The SKM and the farmers’ organisations across the country are consistently demanding from the prime minister to implement MSP@C2+50 per cent with guaranteed procurement as promised in the election manifesto of the BJP in the 2014 general election. But the BJP-led Union government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is consistently betraying the farmers across India for the 12th year, also by not increasing MSP at the rate of C2+50 per cent,” the statement said.
The SKM said the actual cost of production is much higher than the cost projected by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) and hence, the actual loss suffered by farmers also goes beyond the projection.
“The rate of inflation and price rise of fertilisers, seed and other inputs including petroleum products and the living cost are higher than the rate of increase in the MSP based on A2+FL taken by the CCEA for its basic calculations,” it said.
The SKM, which was at the helm of the 2020-21 protests against three central agriculture laws that have since been repealed, said farmers not receiving a fair price for their produce is the reason for the acute agrarian crisis and the resultant farmer-suicide cases.
It appealed to all farmer organisations in the country to undertake a widespread campaign against the “betrayal” of farmers by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre by denying them a remunerative price for kharif crops based on the “C2 plus 50 per cent” formula and not willing to enact a law to guarantee procurement for all crops.
The campaign will culminate in massive protest demonstrations at the tehsil and block levels on July 9 as part of the all-India general strike being supported by the SKM.
According to the 2006 recommendation of the National Commission of Farmers chaired by M S Swaminathan, “C2” means the comprehensive cost, which is A2 plus the FL cost plus the imputed rental value of owned land plus the interest on the fixed capital and the rent paid for leased-in land. Based on the formula, the MSP for paddy amounts to Rs 3,012 per quintal for 2024-25. PTI AO RC
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