Punjab: Wheat MSP hike meagre, say farmer unions

Farmer leaders bat for implementation of Swaminathan commission’s recommendations; the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has revised the wheat MSP from ₹2,425 to ₹2,585

Even as the central government has approved the highest ever increase of ₹160 per quintal in wheat’s minimum support price (MSP), the Punjab farmer unions have termed it as mere peanuts at a time when the state’s agricultural sector is faced with a crisis, especially after the floods ravaged the paddy crop. They said the MSP should be based on the Swaminathan commission’s recommendations.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has mentioned ₹1,239 as the expected cost of wheat production per quintal

On Wednesday, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) announced revised MSPs for winter-sown (rabi) crops for the 2025-26 marketing year under which the wheat MSP has been revised from ₹2,425 to ₹2,585 (a hike of 6.59%). The committee has also mentioned ₹1,239 as the expected cost of wheat production per quintal than last year’s ₹1,182. Effecting an increase of ₹250, the MSP for mustard has also been hiked from ₹5,950 to ₹6,200 with ₹3,210 as the expected cost of production.

Punjab farmers grow mainly two major crops — wheat and mustard — in the rabi season from October after harvesting paddy. In the recent floods, Punjab farmers suffered huge losses after paddy on 4.94 lakh acres got damaged across the state.

Manjit Singh Rai, general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Doaba), said farmers were expecting incentives through the fresh MSP rates for wheat crop. “The cost of wheat production has increased manifold in flood-hit areas due to accumulation of sand and silt but the central government failed to take a serious note of it even after senior central ministers and Prime Minister Narendra Modi toured the state to assess flood losses,” Rai said, adding that the fresh hike in wheat does not account for the actual cost of production.

Meanwhile, BKU (Dakanda) state general secretary Jagmohan Singh said the central government played a joke with farmers every year. “The actual cost of wheat production is much higher than the expected cost mentioned by the committee as the prices of labour, diesel, pesticides and fertilisers have gone up in the past one year. Moreover, the Centre must ensure that other rabi crops, including mustard, lentils, barley and grams, must be procured on MSP as mentioned by the CCEA,” he said.

The farmer unions said the Centre, while announcing the MSP for rabi and kharif crops, must adopt the recommendations of noted agronomist and agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan as proposed by him in his report submitted to the Centre as the head of the National Commission on Farmers (NCF).

“The Centre has not adopted a scientific approach while proposing the pricing for different crops. The government is not offering MSP on the C2 (comprehensive cost) and 50% profit,” he said.

The C2 formula of calculating the cost of cultivation includes the input cost of capital and the rent on the land to give farmers 50% returns. As per the CCEA, the expected cost of production refers to the cost which includes all paid costs, such as those incurred on account of hired human labour, bullock labour/machine labour, rent paid for land lease, expenses incurred on use of inputs, like seeds, fertilisers, manure, irrigation charges, depreciation on implements and farm buildings, interest on working capital, diesel/electricity for operation of pump sets etc., miscellaneous expenses and imputed value of family labour.