Farmer leaders have raised the issue of the US trade agreement at the stakeholders’ consultation meeting on Kharif Minimum Support Price (MSP) organized by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) and said it is directly related to the benchmark price (MSP) as unregulated zero duty imports of US agricultural produce will depress domestic prices.
Although CACP president Vijay Paul Sharma has informed farmer leaders that the trade deal is not directly related to the commission, they were briefed on how it could potentially bring down Indian prices, said Rampal Jat, president of the Kisan Mahapanchayat.
talking to business LineJat said that declaring MSP is meaningful only when its achievement is assured and this is possible only if a law is made guaranteeing procurement to achieve MSP. He requested Sharma to share what were the non-price recommendations of CACP in the past and why those suggestions were not accepted by the government.
JAT said: “CACP had, in the past, recommended legal MSP, but many such recommendations were never accepted. Many non-price suggestions are repeated by the Commission year after year, which shows that this is a routine job without any seriousness.”
no action yet
He pointed out that the committee constituted by the Prime Minister on MSP, which has completed three years, has not yet taken any meaningful action. Jat said, “The government is keen to make India’s market available to the US under the trade agreement, but is not taking action to ensure remunerative prices for the country’s farmers.” He alleged that the interests of farmers are not at the center of export policy today.
He also said that the CACP has repeatedly made recommendations regarding making the purchase guarantee law and import-export policies more in line with the interests of farmers.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (non-political) leader Dharmendra Malik, who attended the meeting, said effective procurement should be guaranteed for crops for which MSPs have been declared.
“For crops for which MSP has not been declared, market intervention schemes should be strengthened. Realistic prices should be set keeping in mind regional cost differences. The import-export policy should be balanced as per the MSP policy, so that farmers do not suffer losses,” Malik said.
He said that currently, A2, A2+FL and C2 production costs are used as the basis for determining MSP, while there is a widespread demand from farmers for structural reforms in this formula. He suggested that MSP for crops should be fixed at twice the C2 cost of production and with legal protection.
He said, “Studies conducted last year have shown that farmers have not received the declared MSP for their crops in both Rabi and Kharif seasons. The main thing is that we are dependent on imports for edible oil and pulses, while domestic production is falling and farmers are not even getting MSP. Last year during Kharif, farmers got prices ranging from 5 per cent to 35 per cent less than the MSP for various crops in the mandis.” He alleged that paddy in Uttar Pradesh is being sold at ₹1,600 per quintal, which is much lower than the MSP of ₹2,389/quintal.
Published on February 25, 2026
