Six Rabi Crops’ MSP Hiked by Cabinet; Saflower Gets a ₹675 Increase

The Ministry has hiked the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of all six mandatory rabi crops for the marketing year 2027-28, with the biggest hike being for safflower. 

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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, headed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the new price on Wednesday, September 30. 

MSP of safflower is hiked by ₹675 per quintal to ₹7,215. Rapeseed and mustard received the next biggest increase of ₹413, taking the MSP to ₹6,613 per quintal. 

For lentil, or masur, the MSP has been raised by ₹390 to ₹7,390 per quintal. Barley will now carry an MSP of ₹2,286 after an increase of ₹136. 

Gram MSP has gone up by ₹83 to ₹5,958 per quintal. 

The MSP of wheat witnessed the least hike out of all the six agricultural products, with the increase being only ₹25 to reach ₹2,610 per quintal. 

Margins over production cost 

The revised prices translate into different expected margins over the all-India weighted average cost of production. 

Wheat carries the highest expected margin at 106%, followed by rapeseed and mustard at 96%. The margin for lentil stands at 92%, while gram and barley are at 59% and 58%, respectively. Safflower has an expected margin of 50%. 

The government maintained that the changes are in accordance with the announcement made in the Union Budget 2018-19 where the MSP will be fixed at the minimum of one-and-a-half times the all-India weighted average cost of production. 

Raising the support prices for pulses and oilseeds is also expected to ensure that farmers change their cropping pattern. 

Rabi MSP payments rise over the years 

The report also highlighted the increase in MSP payments made to farmers over the past decade. 

Payments to wheat farmers stood at ₹7.31 lakh crore between 2014-15 and 2025-26. This compares with ₹2.56 lakh crore paid during the 2004-05 to 2013-14 period. 

Across all six rabi crops, MSP payments reached ₹8.36 lakh crore between 2014-15 and 2025-26, up from ₹2.65 lakh crore during the earlier period. 

The latest revision sets the support prices farmers will receive for the six mandated rabi crops during the 2027-28 marketing season.