Lok Sabha Question No. 1693 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-10
Subject: MSP and Agricultural Reforms
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Adv Gowaal Kagada Padavi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1693

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 10 TH  FEBRUARY, 2026

## MSP AND AGRICULTURAL REFORMS

1693.  ADV GOWAAL KAGADA PADAVI:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ͪष और ͩकसान कãयाण मंğी be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether the  Government is aware that despite record agricultural production, farmers are demanding MSP reforms and income security measures;
- (b)  the  details  regarding  the  status  of  PM-Kisan  instalments  scheduled  for  2026  and reasons for any reported delays;
- (c) whether steps are being taken to promote climate-smart agriculture and digital farming technologies;
- (d) whether the Government has assessed the impact of adverse winter weather conditions on crops and horticulture in hill and drought-prone regions;
- (e) the  data  on  MSP procurement, crop insurance claims, Farmer ID implementation and price stabilisation measures State-wise; and
- (f)  the  timeline  for  implementing  new  agricultural  reforms  and  when  the  likely  date  for releaseof first performance review report for 2025-26?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ͪष एवं ͩकसान कãयाण राÏय मंğी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)

- (a):  Every  year,  Government  fixes  Minimum  Support  Prices  (MSPs)  for  22  mandated agricultural  crops  for  the  country  as  a  whole,  based  on  the  recommendations  of  the Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP), after considering the views of the State Governments and Central Ministries/Departments concerned.

The Union Budget for 2018-19 had announced the pre-determined principle to keep MSPs  at  levels  of  at  least  one  and  half  times  of  the  cost  of  production.  Accordingly, Government  had  increased  MSPs  for  all  mandated  Kharif,  Rabi  and  other  commercial crops  with  a  minimum  return  of  50  percent  over  all  India  weighted  average  cost  of production from year 2018-19 onwards, which has benefitted farmers across the country.

Government's  price policy  is  to  ensure  remunerative prices to farmers  by  offering to procure their produce at MSP. To realize the objectives of MSP Policy, after announcement of  MSP,  Government  procures  cereals  and  coarse  cereals  through  Food  Corporation  of India (FCI)  and  other  designated  State Agencies to  provide  price support  to the farmers. Procurement  of  pulses,  oilseeds  and  copra  is  done  under  Price  Support  Scheme  under Umbrella Scheme of Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA), in consultation  with  the  concerned  State  Government  as  and  when  market  price  of  these produce  fall  below  the  MSP.  Procurement  agencies  under  PM-AASHA  Scheme  are National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) and National Co-  operative  Consumers'  Federation  of  India  Ltd.  (NCCF).  Cotton  and  Jute  are  also procured  by  Government  at  MSP  through  Cotton  Corporation  of  India  (CCI)  and  Jute Corporation of India (JCI), respectively.

Increased MSP has benefitted farmers of the country which is evident from details of all India MSP amount paid to farmers during last three years, given below:

| All MSP Crops                   |   2022-23 |   2023-24 |   2024-25 |
|---------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Total MSP Value (in lakh crore) |      2.47 |      2.63 |      3.47 |

To  provide  remunerative  price  to  the  farmers,  Government  implements  Market Intervention  Scheme  (MIS)  across  the country for procurement  of  agricultural  and horticultural  commodities,  which  are  perishable  in  nature  and  are  not  covered  under  the Minimum Support Price regime. The objective is to protect the farmers from distress sale in the  event  of  a  bumper  crop  during  the  peak  arrival,  when  the  prices  tend  to  fall  below economic levels and the cost of production.

To  encourage  domestic  production  &  ensure  remunerative  prices  to  farmers, procurement  of  Tur,  Urad  and  Masur  from  the  pre-registered  farmers  is  undertaken  as much  as  offered  by  them  through  the Central Nodal  Agencies  under  Mission  for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses till 2030-31.

From  2024  -25 season, Government added  another  component  under Market intervention scheme for reimbursing the Storage and Transportation cost of  TOP crops (Tomato, Onion and Potato) to central nodal agencies & state designated agencies for  transporting  them  from  the  producing  state  to  consuming  states in  the  interest  of  the farmers.

(b): In FY 2025-26, the two instalments of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PMKisan)  Scheme  i.e.  20th  &  21st  instalment  of  PM-Kisan  has  already  been  released  in August, 2025 & November, 2025 respectively. The 22nd instalment of PM-Kisan for Quarter (December 2025 - March 2026) in current Financial  Year 2025-26 to be released as per schedule.

(c)  &  (d):  ICAR  in  consultation  with  state  governments  has  developed  District  Agriculture Contingency Plans (DACPs) for 651 districts in India to  address weather aberrations like drought  (early,  mid  and  late-season  droughts),  floods,  unseasonal  rains  and  extreme weather events such as heat wave, cold wave, frost, hailstorm and cyclone etc. ICAR also developed  drought  resistant  crop  varieties  and  management  practices,  which  are  being promoted through KVKs and transferred to State departments.

Several  schemes  have  also  been  initiated  under  National  Mission  for  Sustainable Agriculture  (NMSA),  to  promote  sustainable  agriculture  practices.  Per  Drop  More  Crop (PDMC) scheme increases water use efficiency at the farm level through micro irrigation technologies  i.e.  drip  and  sprinkler  irrigation.  Rainfed  Area  Development  focuses  on Integrated Farming System for enhancing productivity and minimizing risks associated with climatic variability. The  Soil  Health &  Fertility  scheme  promotes  integrated  nutrient management through judicious use of chemical fertilizers. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, Agroforestry & National Bamboo Mission also promote climate resilience  in  agriculture.  Further,  Pradhan  Mantri  Fasal  BimaYojana  (PMFBY)  along  with weather  index  based  Restructured  Weather  Based  Crop  Insurance  Scheme  provide  a comprehensive  insurance  cover  against  crop  failure  by  providing  financial  support  to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of unforeseen natural calamities.

Additionally,  the  Government  has  approved  the  Digital  Agriculture  Mission  in September 2024. The Mission envisages the creation of a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for Agriculture, Such as AgriStack, Krishi Decision Support System, a Comprehensive Soil Fertility & Profile Map and other IT initiatives undertaken by the Central Government/State Government to enable a robust digital agriculture ecosystem in the country.

- (e):  All India procurement of MSP cops during last three years are given below:

| All MSP Crops                             | 2022-23   | 2023-24   | 2024-25   |
|-------------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Total Procurement (in lakh metric tonnes) | 1,118     | 1,089     | 1,223     |

State-wise details of farmers benefitted and claims paid under Pradhan Mantri Fasal BimaYojna (PMFBY) since the inception of the scheme in 2016 until 2024-25 are given in Annexure .

- (f): Government  of  India has identified following integrated strategy for  enhancing the farmers income and comprehensive growth of agriculture sector:-
- (i) Increase crop production/ productivity
- (ii) Reduce cost of production
- (iii) Remunerative returns of farmers' produce to enhance their incomes.
- (iv) Agricultural diversification
- (v) Developing post harvest value addition
- (vi) Adaptation to climate change for sustainable agriculture and mitigate against crop losses

To achieve these objectives, Government has taken several initiatives which include Pradhan  Mantri  Kisan  Samman  Nidhi  (PM-KISAN),  Pradhan  Mantri  Kisan  Maan  Dhan Yojana  (PM-KMY),  Pradhan  Mantri  Fasal  Bima  Yojana  (PMFBY)  ,  Modified  Interest Subvention  Scheme  (MISS),  Pradhan  Mantri  Annadata  Aay  Sanrakshan  Abhiyan  (PMAASHA)  and  other  such  schemes.  In  this  regardThe  Government  has  substantially enhanced the budget allocation of Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare(DA&FW) from Rs. 21,933.50 crore BE during 2013-14 to Rs. 1,27,290.16 crore BE during 2025-26.

## State-wise details of farmers benefitted and claims paid under Pradhan Mantri Fasal BimaYojna (PMFBY) since the inception of the scheme in 2016 until 2024-25

| State/UT         | Paid Claims (Rs.Crore)   | Farmer Applications Benefitted (lakh)   |
|------------------|--------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| A & N Islands    | 0.3                      | 0.0                                     |
| Andhra Pradesh   | 5,580.5                  | 60.3                                    |
| Assam            | 736.6                    | 10.9                                    |
| Bihar            | 811.1                    | 4.7                                     |
| Chhattisgarh     | 7,655.1                  | 111.9                                   |
| Goa              | 0.1                      | 0.0                                     |
| Gujarat          | 5,751.2                  | 29.4                                    |
| Haryana          | 9,015.2                  | 82.8                                    |
| Himachal Pradesh | 609.4                    | 11.4                                    |
| Jammu & Kashmir  | 157.3                    | 2.7                                     |
| Jharkhand        | 857.3                    | 8.7                                     |
| Karnataka        | 18,654.5                 | 131.7                                   |
| Kerala           | 743.5                    | 5.8                                     |
| Madhya Pradesh   | 31,737.1                 | 304.8                                   |
| Maharashtra      | 45,449.2                 | 624.1                                   |
| Manipur          | 10.5                     | 0.3                                     |
| Meghalaya        | 24.5                     | 0.3                                     |
| Odisha           | 7,183.9                  | 113.3                                   |
| Puducherry       | 21.2                     | 0.5                                     |
| Rajasthan        | 31,554.5                 | 502.5                                   |
| Sikkim           | 0.2                      | 0.0                                     |
| Tamil Nadu       | 15,575.5                 | 181.6                                   |
| Telangana        | 1,906.4                  | 12.2                                    |
| Tripura          | 12.3                     | 1.3                                     |
| Uttar Pradesh    | 5,805.2                  | 91.6                                    |
| Uttarakhand      | 1,362.0                  | 10.7                                    |
| West Bengal      | 1,262.8                  | 19.1                                    |
| GRAND TOTAL      | 1,92,477.3               | 2,322.7                                 |

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