**Executive Summary**
Union Agriculture Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan addressed the Lok Sabha on March 24, 2026, to detail the government’s efforts in doubling farmers' incomes and providing financial security. The report highlights key initiatives such as cost-plus-50% Minimum Support Price (MSP), the PM-AASHA scheme, and the use of technology for crop insurance and direct benefit transfers. Recent achievements include the transfer of ₹14,000 crore to Maharashtra farmers within five days and the disbursement of over ₹1.92 lakh crore in insurance claims.
**Key Points / Main Content**
**Pricing and Procurement Mechanisms**
* **Cost-Based MSP:** The government determines MSP by adding a 50% profit margin to the production cost to ensure better returns for farmers.
* **PM-AASHA Scheme:** Provides security for pulses and oilseeds through three methods: direct purchase, price difference payment mechanisms to bridge market gaps, and other protective measures.
* **Expanded Procurement:** Beyond traditional grains like wheat and paddy, the government has reached record MSP purchases for pulses, oilseeds, and various other crops.
**Support for Perishable Produce**
* **Market Intervention Scheme (MIS):** Sets model rates for fruits and vegetables; the government pays the difference directly to farmers if market prices fall below these rates.
* **Logistics Assistance:** For products like grapes, chili, potato, onion, and tomato, the Central Government bears transportation costs to help farmers reach distant mandis when local prices are insufficient.
**Crop Insurance and Technological Integration**
* **PM Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY):** Provisions have shifted from tehsil-level assessments to individual farmer level coverage, ensuring even single-farmer crop losses are compensated.
* **Satellite Technology:** Remote sensing and satellite-based methods are now used for scientific and impartial assessment of crop yields and losses.
* **Yield Verification:** Mandatory crop-cutting experiments (four per panchayat/cluster) are conducted to ensure transparent and accurate yield estimation.
**Digital Initiatives and Relief**
* **Digital Farmer IDs:** Enables swift direct benefit transfers; notably, ₹14,000 crore was transferred to Maharashtra farmers’ accounts within five days during recent calamities.
* **Institutional Coordination:** FCI, NAFED, and state agencies are working in coordination to open as many purchase centers as required to ensure the procurement of entire produce.
**Impact Analysis**
**Farmers**
**Impact**
Farmers benefit from doubled incomes, guaranteed profit margins on MSP, and a broader security shield covering perishables and grains. They receive direct financial transfers for price differences and insurance claims, even for individual-level crop damage.
**Action Required**
Farmers should utilize the digital Farmer ID system and participate in PMFBY to ensure they are eligible for swift relief and insurance compensation.
**State Governments and Agencies (FCI, NAFED)**
**Impact**
These entities are responsible for executing the ground-level implementation of central policies, including opening procurement centers and conducting yield experiments.
**Action Required**
Agencies must work in a coordinated manner to ensure proper purchase of produce. State governments are required to conduct mandatory crop-cutting experiments at the panchayat level and implement digital systems for fund transfers.
**Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare**
**Impact**
The Ministry is tasked with overseeing the "cost + 50%" MSP mandate and managing the financial logistics of the Market Intervention Scheme.
**Action Required**
The Ministry must continue to fund transportation costs for distant mandis and maintain the PM-AASHA framework to protect farmers from market price fluctuations.
Key Entities Referenced
Shivraj Singh Chouhan: Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare who detailed the government’s initiatives to increase farmers' incomes and agricultural productivity in the Lok Sabha.
Minimum Support Price (MSP): A guaranteed price for agricultural produce, currently determined by adding a 50 percent profit margin to the cost of production.
Pradhan Mantri Annadatta Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA): An umbrella scheme providing income security to farmers through direct purchase of crops and price difference payment mechanisms.
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana: A national crop insurance scheme providing compensation for yield losses using satellite-based remote sensing and digital assessment systems.
Swaminathan Commission: A government commission whose recommendations regarding MSP were cited as the benchmark for the current administration's pricing policy.
Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
Many farmers’ incomes have doubled, Says
Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Parliament
Modi government committed to giving farmers’ the full value
of their sweat: Union Agriculture Minister Shri Shivraj Singh
Chouhan
Our government has given farmers’ cost + 50% MSP: Shri
Shivraj Singh
From pulses-oilseeds to fruits-vegetables, solid security
shield for every crop in farmers’ interests: Union Agriculture
Minister Shri Chouhan
PM-AASHA, crop insurance, and price difference schemes
secure farmers’ income; Modi government stands with our
‘annadatta’ in every crisis - Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Record MSP purchases, direct assistance, and digital farmer
ID provide swift relief to farmers : Shri Chouhan
Farmers will get fair price in every situation: Union Agriculture
Minister Shri Shivraj Singh expressed commitment in Lok
Sabha
Posted On: 24 MAR 2026 3:16PM by PIB Delhi
Union Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development, Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan
stated in the Lok Sabha today that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Central
Government is committed to ensuring that farmers receive a fair price for their produce in every situation,
and no effort will be spared at any level to rescue the ‘annadatta’ (food providers) from crisis. He said that
the NDA government has provided a strong security shield to farmers’ income through record purchases at
Minimum Support Price (MSP), PM-AASHA, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, price difference
payment, and Market Intervention Scheme, and farmers’ incomes have doubled.While answering various questions raised by MPs in the Lok Sabha, Union Agriculture Minister Shri
Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that to increase farmers’ incomes and protect their interests, the Central
Government led by Shri Narendra Modi has taken several historic steps in the past years. He informed that
agricultural production has increased by nearly 44 per cent, and a comprehensive campaign has been
launched to simultaneously enhance farmers’ productivity and income. Shri Chouhan said that in the
previous governments’ time, excuses were made in the name of implementing the Swaminathan
Commission recommendations, even going to the extent of saying that giving MSP more than 50 per cent
of the cost would distort the market. In contrast, the NDA government led by Shri Narendra Modi decided
to determine the Minimum Support Price by taking into account 50 per cent profit on production cost and
continuously implemented it, enabling farmers to get better returns for their hard work.
Union Minister Shri Shivraj Singh stated that merely announcing MSP is not enough; actually procuring at
that price is more important, and in this direction, the government has provided direct benefits to farmers
through record purchases at MSP not only for wheat, paddy, pulses, and oilseeds but also for various other
crops. He said that this government has not remained limited to grains only but is also actively intervening
for pulses, oilseeds, fruits, and vegetables so that farmers do not suffer losses if prices of any crop fall.
Shri Chouhan informed that Pradhan Mantri Annadatta Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan – PM-AASHA scheme, a
significant initiative launched during Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s tenure, provides security to
those crops whose prices often fall below MSP. He said that under PM-AASHA, three types of
arrangements have been made – direct purchase of pulses and oilseeds through Price Support Scheme,
bridging the gap between MSP and market price through price difference payment mechanism, and
providing protection to farmers through other means if needed.On a question regarding Maharashtra, Union Agriculture Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan informed
that during the recent natural calamities, the state government made full use of the Centre’s policy-
supported digital system and transferred ₹14,000 crore directly to farmers’ accounts within just five days
through Farmer ID, providing swift relief.
He said that on one hand, state governments compensate for crop losses through arrangements like SDRF,
while on the other hand, the Central Government is leaving no stone unturned in providing insurance
coverage and compensation to farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.
While mentioning crops like soybean including pulses and oilseeds, Shri Chouhan said that in the event of
price fall, the government does not rely only on purchase but also adopts the option of depositing the
entire amount between MSP and market price directly into the farmer’s account through price difference
mechanism. Citing the example of Madhya Pradesh, he said that there, through the price difference
payment scheme, farmers’ income was protected without making them stand in queues, without additional
logistics costs, and this model is inspirational for other states as well.
Union Agriculture Minister Shri Shivraj Singh said that through the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS), a
model rate has been set for perishable fruits and vegetables as well, either by arranging direct purchase or
by depositing the difference between model rate and market price into the farmer’s account. In the context
of products like grapes, chilli, potato, onion, tomato, he clarified that if prices are very low in farmers’
areas and farmers want to take their produce to mandis in big cities, then in such cases, the Central
Government is even bearing the transportation cost, so that farmers can get better prices in distant mandis.
While replying in the Lok Sabha, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan reiterated that to ensure proper purchase of
the entire produce of the farmer, FCI, NAFED, state government agencies, and other institutions are
working in a coordinated manner, and purchase centers are being opened wherever and as many as
required.
Emphasising the transparency and accuracy in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana,
Shri Shivraj Singh informed that crop-cutting experiments are conducted at every panchayat level, and
four such experiments are mandatorily carried out in each cluster/panchayat so that there is no doubt in the
estimation of yield figures. He said that now, extensive use of technology has been adopted through
satellite-based remote sensing method, which enables better assessment of actual yield and loss, and
insurance claims can be paid on a more scientific and impartial basis; farmers are directly benefiting from
this in the new crop insurance system.
Union Minister Shri Chouhan informed that during the NDA government’s tenure, farmers have deposited
a total of about ₹36,055 crore as premium under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, in return for
which about ₹1,92,477 crore of insurance claim amount have been deposited into farmers’ accounts; this
is proof that the scheme has been extremely beneficial for farmers. He also clarified that earlier, local level
disasters or crop loss of any single farmer was generally not considered covered, and assessment mainly
happened at tehsil/block unit level, but now the provisions have been changed to ensure that if even a
single farmer’s crop is damaged and yield figures prove it, then compensation for his loss will also be
provided through the crop insurance scheme; no farmer will be deprived of insurance security.
He said that these are not just paper schemes but concrete steps implemented at the ground level, whose
direct benefits are visible in farmers’ income and security. Union Agriculture Minister Shri Shivraj Singh
Chouhan said that PM Modi’s government is farmer-friendly, which stands firmly with the ‘annadatta’ and
life-giver farmer in every crisis. He said that we will never back down from the resolve to give farmers the
full price of their sweat in any situation; protecting the farmer’s hard work and honour is our topmost
priority.
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