The Union government on Tuesday hiked the minimum support price for all rabi crops for marketing season 2023-’24. The minimum support price for lentils was increased the most at Rs 6,000 per quintal from Rs 5,500 per quintal.

The minimum support price is the guaranteed amount paid to farmers when the government buys their produce. The Centre fixes minimum support prices for 23 crops grown in both the kharif and rabi seasons.

Sowing for rabi, one of the two major crop season cycles in India, begins from October.

The Centre increased the minimum support price for wheat from Rs 2,015 per quintal to Rs 2,125 per quintal for the next sowing season. The minimum support price for rapeseed and mustard was increased to Rs 5,450 per quintal from Rs 5,050 per quintal.

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur said at a media briefing that the government has ensured a 100% return on the cost of production for wheat and mustard. Whereas for the other four rabi crops, the return is between 50% to 85% on cost of production.

Thakur also said that the increase in the minimum support price for wheat and mustard has witnessed a two-fold increase in returns on cost of production. The cost of production is estimated after factoring all the expenses incurred by the farmers, including labour, seeds, fertilisers, working capital, among other things.

In the Union budget of 2018-’19, the government had announced that the minimum support price will be brought to a level of at least 1.5 times the pan-India weighted average cost of production, in order to fairly remunerate the farmers.