Minimum Support Price (MSP)

The Minimum Support Price (MSP) is a price floor announced by the Government of India for notified crops before each sowing season. It is meant to protect farmers from distress sales when market prices fall, and to encourage production of crops the country needs.

How MSP is decided

The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) studies the cost of production, demand and supply, market price trends and the wider economy, and recommends MSP for each crop. The Union Cabinet then approves the final price. Since 2018-19 the government has aimed to fix MSP for the main crops at a level that gives at least 1.5 times the all-India weighted average cost of production.

Which crops are covered

MSP is announced for 22 mandated crops: cereals such as paddy, wheat, maize, jowar, bajra and ragi, pulses such as gram, tur, moong, urad and masur, oilseeds such as groundnut, soybean, mustard and sunflower, and commercial crops such as cotton, jute, copra and sugarcane (for sugarcane the price announced is the Fair and Remunerative Price).

Who buys the crop

• Rice and wheat: Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies.
• Pulses, oilseeds and copra: NAFED and NCCF, mainly under the Price Support Scheme of PM-AASHA, when market prices fall below MSP.
• Cotton: Cotton Corporation of India. Jute: Jute Corporation of India.

• A guaranteed minimum price for notified crops when sold at government procurement centres.
• Payment is made directly into the farmer's bank account in most states.
• Price support schemes (such as PM-AASHA) step in for pulses, oilseeds and copra when market prices fall below MSP during harvest.

• Farmers growing notified crops who sell at a government procurement centre or through a state procurement agency.
• In most states, farmers must register first with land and bank details. Registration usually uses the state procurement portal or the central e-Samyukti and e-Samridhi platforms for pulses, oilseeds and similar crops.
• Procurement depends on the crop and state. Buying is not open in every district for every crop, so check with your local mandi or agriculture office.

• MSP is not a price that private traders are legally bound to pay. It applies to government procurement.
• Only fair average quality produce within the moisture and quality limits is accepted.
• Procurement limits per farmer and per state can apply to some crops.

How a farmer sells at MSP

1. Check the announced MSP for your crop for the current season (published by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare).
2. Find your nearest procurement centre or mandi from your state food and civil supplies or agriculture department.
3. Register with your land record, Aadhaar-linked bank account and crop details on the state portal, or on the e-Samridhi / e-Samyukti platform where used for pulses and oilseeds.
4. Bring the produce on the slot given, meeting the quality norms.
5. Payment is credited to the bank account after procurement.

Open the official CACP website