It has been over 10 days since farmers of Gadag district in north Karnataka started an indefinite agitation demanding Minimal Assist Worth (MSP) of ₹3,000 per quintal for maize. Farmers within the neighboring districts too are up in arms in opposition to the Central and State governments over the plummeting value of maize.
Whereas the Middle has fastened an MSP at ₹2,400 per quintal for maize, the prevailing value in Karnataka is ₹1,600 to ₹1,800 per quintal. The costs, which started declining in September, have dropped out of the blue over the past fortnight.
The plight of the farmers in Karnataka, which is among the many prime maize-producing States within the nation, appears to have been buried below the cacophony over the “power-sharing method” between the Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, and the Deputy Chief Minister, DK Shivakumar.
The protest by maize farmers comes at a time when the State authorities is but to get well from the floods that destroyed crops. That was adopted by collection of protests by sugarcane farmers in search of a Honest and Remunerative Worth (FRP) of ₹3,500 per tonne for sugarcane. The State authorities just lately managed to persuade the farmers to comply with an FRP of ₹3,300 per tonne.
The Opposition BJP has been fast to seize this chance to painting the ruling provision as “anti-farmer”, simply forward of the winter session of the State legislature. In response, the Congress has argued that the Union authorities’s intervention is essential in resolving each maize and sugarcane points. It has mocked the opposition MPs of Karnataka for not having the gumption to boost the problem with their very own social gathering leaders on the Centre.
Final week, Mr. Siddaramaiah wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in search of his intervention within the procurement of maize and likewise inexperienced gram, which has seen a value drop as properly. He stated that Mr. Modi ought to direct the Nationwide Agricultural Cooperative Advertising and marketing Federation of India (NAFED), the Meals Company of India, and the Nationwide Cooperative Shoppers’ Federation of India (NCCF) to start MSP procurement instantly below the Worth Assist Scheme or one other appropriate mechanism. Mr. Siddaramaiah contended that elevated imports have additionally added to the disaster.
The Union Minister for Shopper Affairs, Meals and Public Distribution, Pralhad Joshi, responded by lobbying the ball again to the State’s court docket and insisting that the authority on implementing the MSP or FRP rests with the State authorities. He has additionally trashed Mr. Siddaramaiah’s claims on imports, stating that it’s only 0.5 lakh metric tonnes this fiscal.
Amid the political blame sport, one of many fundamental points that has gone unaddressed is the fast growth of maize cultivation in Karnataka. Maize in Karnataka has changed rain-fed crops corresponding to potato, cotton, groundnut, ragi, and sorghum. In 2023, the cultivated space below maize within the State was 10.3 lakh hectares. For the present yr, as much as July 5, it was 13.98 lakh hectares, up from 12.20 lakh hectare final yr in the identical interval.
In line with market consultants, this yr, a number of elements together with supply-demand disparity, lowered exports attributable to downward development in world cereal costs, and associated elements triggered the worth drop. Ethanol mixing ends in the manufacturing of enormous portions of Distiller’s Dried Grains with Solubles, an alternative choice to standard feed grains, which is cited as one other issue decreasing the demand for maize within the livestock sector. Additionally, whereas Karnataka has produced over 55 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of maize throughout kharif 2025, it has a marketable surplus of 32 lakh tonnes, which far exceeds the absorptive capability of native industries. Added to the issue is the present extra inventory with the distilleries from the earlier yr’s procurement.
A constructive growth amid the disaster is Mr. Siddaramaiah’s promise about beginning procurement below MSP by the State. Nevertheless, that is but to translate right into a authorities order. He has additionally written to the distilleries within the State to enroll with NAFED and NCCF for the manufacturing of ethanol utilizing maize.
Farmers who domesticate maize in Karnataka, largely within the central and northern districts, have demanded motion each by the State and the Middle to give you a long-term answer. This demand presently appears misplaced on each ruling and Opposition social gathering leaders.
Revealed – November 26, 2025 12:51 am IST