New Delhi: The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Wednesday, approved an increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for all mandated Kharif crops for the 2024-25 marketing season. This decision aims to ensure remunerative prices for the farmers. The Union Cabinet has recommended the highest absolute increases in MSP over the previous year for oilseeds and pulses, with nigerseed seeing an increase of Rs. 983 per quintal, followed by sesamum at Rs. 632 per quintal, and tur/arhar at Rs. 550 per quintal.
Minimum Support Prices for Kharif Crops for 2024-25 Marketing Season (Rs. per quintal)
| Crops | MSP 2024-25 |
Cost* KMS 2024-25 |
Margin over cost (%) |
MSP 2023-24 |
MSP Increase in 2024-25 over 2023-24 |
|
| Cereals | ||||||
| Paddy | Common | 2300 | 1533 | 50 | 2183 | 117 |
| Grade A^ | 2320 | – | – | 2203 | 117 | |
| Jowar | Hybrid | 3371 | 2247 | 50 | 3180 | 191 |
| Maldandi” | 3421 | – | – | 3225 | 196 | |
| Bajra | 2625 | 1485 | 77 | 2500 | 125 | |
| Ragi | 4290 | 2860 | 50 | 3846 | 444 | |
| Maize | 2225 | 1447 | 54 | 2090 | 135 | |
| Pulses | ||||||
| Tur /Arhar | 7550 | 4761 | 59 | 7000 | 550 | |
| Moong | 8682 | 5788 | 50 | 8558 | 124 | |
| Crops | MSP 2024-25 |
Cost* KMS 2024-25 |
Margin over cost (%) |
MSP 2023-24 |
MSP Increase in 2024-25 over 2023-24 | |
| Urad | 7400 | 4883 | 52 | 6950 | 450 | |
| Oilseeds | ||||||
| Groundnut | 6783 | 4522 | 50 | 6377 | 406 | |
| Sunflower Seed | 7280 | 4853 | 50 | 6760 | 520 | |
| Soybean (Yellow) | 4892 | 3261 | 50 | 4600 | 292 | |
| Sesamum | 9267 | 6178 | 50 | 8635 | 632 | |
| Nigerseed | 8717 | 5811 | 50 | 7734 | 983 | |
| Commercial | ||||||
| Cotton | (Medium Staple) | 7121 | 4747 | 50 | 6620 | 501 |
| (Long Stapler | 7521 | – | – | 7020 | 501 | |
*Refers to costs including all paid-out expenses such as those for hired labour, bullock/machine labour, rent for leased land, material inputs like seeds, fertilisers, manures, irrigation charges, depreciation on implements and farm buildings, interest on working capital, diesel and electricity for pump sets, miscellaneous expenses, and the imputed value of family labour. Cost data are not separately compiled for Paddy (Grade A), Jowar (Maldandi), and Cotton (Long staple).
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The increase in MSP for the 2024-25 Kharif Marketing Season aligns with the Union Budget 2018-19 announcement of setting the MSP at least 1.5 times the all-India weighted average cost of production. The expected margins over the cost of production are estimated to be highest for bajra (77 per cent), followed by tur (59 per cent), maize (54 per cent), and urad (52 per cent). For the rest of the crops, the margin is estimated to be 50 per cent.
In recent years, the Government has been promoting the cultivation of crops other than cereals, such as pulses, oilseeds, and nutri-cereals/Shree Anna (Millets), by offering higher MSPs for these crops.
