Chennai, Aug 11:
Terming the higher incentives announced by Chief Minister Vijay for paddy and sugarcane procurement as inadequate, PMK President and Rajya Sabha MP Anbumani Ramadoss on Monday urged the Tamil Nadu government to hike the MSP for paddy to Rs 3,000 this year and further to Rs 3,500 next year.
In a statement here, he said the TVK Government has increased the State incentive for paddy procured during the current year to Rs. 289 per quintal for fine varieties and Rs. 159 per quintal for common varieties. Similarlythe incentive for sugarcane has been increased to Rs. 709.50, taking the total procurement price to Rs. 4,000 per tonne.
However, the reality is that the State Government has increased the incentive for common variety paddy by just Rs. 28, which is wholly inadequate, he said, adding the government has not made any substantial increase in the incentive for paddy.
For the current year, the centre had fixed the procurement price at Rs. 2,441 per quintal for common variety paddy and Rs. 2,461 for fine variety paddy. In addition, during the previous DMK regime, the State Government provided an incentive of Rs. 156 per quintal for fine variety paddy and Rs. 131 for common variety, which the TVK regime has now it by Rs. 28 for common variety and by Rs. 133 for fine variety,
rising the procurement price to Rs. 2,750 per quintal for fine variety and Rs. 2,600 for common variety.
This is inadequate. The Central Government has increased the procurement price of common variety paddy by Rs. 72 per quintal. However, the TN government has increased its incentive by less than half of the increase provided by the Centre.
Referring to the government’s announcement hiking the incentive for fine variety paddy to Rs. 289, Anbumani, also a former Union Minister said, this provides little or no benefit to farmers as more than 95 percent of the paddy procured by the government belongs to common varieties. Therefore, it is the procurement price for common variety paddy that should have been increased substantially.
Increasing the incentive for common variety paddy, which benefits the vast majority of farmers, by just Rs. 28, while increasing the incentive for fine variety paddy, which is procured in very limited quantities, by Rs. 133 serves no meaningful purpose, he said.
The gvernment’s announcement appears intended merely to create an impression that the incentive has been increased and to boast about the measure, he noted.
Pointing out that last year, Odisha provided an incentive of Rs. 800 per quintal of paddy, while Kerala provided Rs. 650 per quintal and they could be increased further this year. Compared with these States, the incentive offered by the Tamil Nadu Government remains inadequate, Anbumani said.
The cost of producing one quintal of paddy in Tamil Nadu ranges from Rs. 2,300 to Rs. 2,400. Adding only Rs. 200 to the production cost and fixing the procurement price accordingly is by no means justified. Therefore, the incentive must be increased to Rs. 559 per quintal so that farmers receive Rs. 3,000 for common variety paddy this year. Similarly, next year, the procurement price for paddy must be increased to Rs. 3,500, as promised in the TVK election manifesto.
With regard to sugarcane, during the 2025-26 crushing season, the Central Government provided a procurement price of Rs. 3,290.50 per tonne for sugarcane registered with and supplied to sugar mills. However, no incentive was announced by the State Government. Subsequently, it was announced that the Rs. 349 incentive provided for sugarcane in 2024-25 would be supplemented by an additional Rs.360.50, taking the total incentive to Rs. 709.50.
Accordingly, the Tamil Nadu Government announced that sugarcane would fetch Rs. 4,000 per tonne in the previous year. While this announcement may not bring complete satisfaction to farmers, it does provide some measure of relief.
The 2026-27 crushing season is scheduled to begin in October. For sugarcane procured during the coming season, the Central Government has announced a procurement price of Rs. 3,383 per tonne. Adding the incentive announced by the TN Government last year would take the total to Rs. 4,092 per tonne. If the incentive is increased by a further Rs. 408 this year, over and above last year’s incentive, the procurement price of sugarcane would reach Rs. 4,500 per tonne, the RS MP said and urged the government to come out with immediate announcement providing an incentive of Rs. 1,117 per tonne in addition to the Central procurement price for sugarcane during the coming crushing season.