SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir farmers received Rs 376.83 crore through the procurement of 1.82 lakh tonnes of paddy at Minimum Support Price (MSP) over the five marketing seasons from 2021-22 to 2025-26, according to data presented by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The ministry’s data show that paddy procurement in JK rose from 0.41 lakh tonnes in 2021-22 to 0.50 lakh tonnes in 2025-26, while the corresponding MSP value increased from Rs 79.42 crore to Rs 118.87 crore. Procurement, however, fluctuated during the period, falling to 0.24 lakh tonnes in 2023-24 before recovering to 0.33 lakh tonnes in 2024-25 and 0.50 lakh tonnes in 2025-26.
For wheat, JK recorded procurement of 0.24 lakh tonnes worth Rs 48.01 crore in 2021-22. Procurement then fell sharply to 0.003 lakh tonnes, valued at Rs 0.51 crore, in 2022-23, while no wheat procurement was recorded for the Union Territory in the subsequent three marketing seasons covered by the data.
The figures were provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in response to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1598 on the assessment of real income of farmers, which sought details on cultivation costs, farm-gate prices, MSP, procurement and estimated net farm income.
The ministry did not provide a state-wise assessment of farmers’ real or net income for the last five years in its reply. It cited the National Sample Survey Office’s Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households, conducted during the 77th round in 2019, according to which the estimated average monthly income of an agricultural household across India increased from Rs 6,426 in 2012-13 to Rs 10,218 in 2018-19.
The ministry also said the latest NSSO Household Consumption Expenditure Survey showed average monthly per capita consumption expenditure in rural India rising from Rs 1,430 in 2011-12 to Rs 4,122 in 2023-24, while urban MPCE increased from Rs 2,630 to Rs 6,996 over the same period.
There is no directly comparable national average for JK’s MSP procurement in the reply. However, the data indicate that the UT’s paddy procurement remains a small share of the national total. Against JK’s 0.50 lakh tonnes in 2025-26, India procured 835.10 lakh tonnes of paddy, with an MSP value of Rs 1,99,504.20 crore. Punjab topped procurement at 156.50 lakh tonnes, followed by Telangana at 111.18 lakh tonnes and Chhattisgarh at 108.96 lakh tonnes.
The Union Government said it fixes MSP annually for 22 mandated agricultural crops on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, after considering the views of State Governments and concerned Central ministries and departments. The MSP policy, it said, provides for a minimum margin of 50 per cent over the all-India weighted average cost of production.
The ministry said that, since 2014, farmers across the country have received more than Rs 27.80 lakh crore through MSP procurement of about 12,819 lakh metric tonnes of agricultural produce.
It added that procurement support has been extended beyond wheat and rice to pulses, oilseeds and horticultural commodities under the PM-AASHA framework. The Price Support Scheme covers specified pulses, oilseeds and copra when market prices fall below MSP, while the Market Intervention Scheme provides support for perishable agricultural and horticultural commodities not covered by the MSP regime.
The ministry said agriculture is a State subject and the Centre supplements States’ efforts through schemes covering farm credit, insurance, income support, infrastructure, horticulture, seeds, mechanisation, marketing, irrigation, digital agriculture and procurement, among other areas.
The Union Government’s Budget Estimate for the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has increased from Rs 27,662.67 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 1,40,416.57 crore in 2026-27, the ministry said.
On the demand for a statutory guarantee for MSP, the ministry’s reply did not announce any such legal framework. Instead, it outlined existing procurement and price-support mechanisms, including MSP procurement, PM-AASHA, the Price Deficit Payment Scheme and the Market Intervention Scheme.
