The Indian government approved a 1-10 per cent hike in rabi crops MSPs on Wednesday. Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, "The production cost of wheat is ₹1,264 per quintal, but MSP has been kept more than double at ₹2,610." This move aims to support farmers before the winter sowing season starts.
The Indian government has announced minimum support prices (MSPs) for the rabi marketing season 2027-28 after the Cabinet approved 1-10 per cent hike on Wednesday, a day before the winter sowing season is set to commence. The lowest hike in wheat was less than 1 per cent while the highest was for safflower by 10.3 per cent.
After the revision, the MSP of winter season's main cereal wheat now stands at ₹2,610 per quintal against ₹2,585 per quintal announced for 2026-27 marketing season (April-March).
Briefing media after the Cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the Cabinet approved the MSPs recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) as proposed by the agriculture ministry.
Revised prices
"The production cost of wheat is ₹1,264 per quintal, but MSP has been kept more than double at ₹2,610 per quintal for 2027-28," he said.
Among other rabi crops, barley MSP has been increased by 6.3 per cent to ₹2,286 per quintal from ₹2,150 per quintal, gram (chana) has been hiked by 1.4 per cent to ₹5,958 per quintal from ₹5,875 per quintal, lentil (masur) by 5.6 per cent to ₹7,390 per quintal from ₹7,000 per quintal, mustard by 6.7 per cent to ₹6,613 per quintal from ₹6,200 per quintal and safflower to ₹7,215 per quintal from ₹6,540 per quintal, an official statement said.
Total payout to farmers is estimated to be ₹90,962 crore for 324 lakh tonnes in the 2027-28 marketing year, the minister said adding the MSPs have been decided factoring the cost of production, El Nino concerns, and global and domestic price trends.
Production targets
The government has fixed a production target of 177.72 million tonnes (mt) of foodgrains which includes 121 mt of wheat, 17.20 mt of pulses and 22.30 mt of nutri/coarse cereals during current rabi season. As the monsoon rainfall during whole of September was only 8 per cent deficient, some parts may be able to have adequate moisture for sowing.
However, some states which have received 20 per cent or more deficit rainfall in September may have to depend entirely for canal irrigation amid forecast of further strengthening of El Nino in the coming months. During September, Maharashtra reported 52 per cent deficit rainfall, Karnataka -57 per cent, Telangana -24 per cent, Punjab -64 per cent and Haryana -44 per cent.