Farmers in loss due to non-implementation of Swaminathan commission's MSP formula: AIKS

New Delhi, Oct 9 (PTI) Paddy, wheat and maize farmers in Bihar have lost around Rs 10,000 crore in 2024-25 due to the non-implementation of Minimum Support Price according to the C2+50 per cent formula given by the MS Swaminathan-chaired National Commission on Farmers, the All India Kisan Sabha said on Thursday.

Overall, in the year 2024-25, farmers cultivating the 20 major Kharif and Rabi crops could have earned nearly Rs 3 lakh crore more if their produce had been procured at prices fixed as per the C2+50 per cent formula, the AIKS said.

"The Swaminathan Commission's recommendation of 1.5 times the input cost has not been implemented yet. In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the promise that the Swaminathan Commission recommendation would be implemented and farmers would be paid according to the formula C2+50 per cent - comprehensive cost of cultivation plus 50 per cent. That has not been implemented so far," General Secretary of the AIKS Vijoo Krishnan said at a press conference here.

The AIKS, a farmers' organisation affiliated with the CPI(M) in Bihar, stated that farmers growing paddy, wheat, and maize have collectively lost approximately Rs 10,000 crore in the 2024-25 season due to the non-implementation of the C2 + 50 per cent pricing formula.

"Over the nine-year period, their cumulative income loss is estimated at Rs 71,000 crore. The actual figure is likely to be much higher, given the widespread inefficiencies in procurement and limited MSP coverage as the Mandi system had been closed down in 2006 by the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar," AIKS said in a statement.

AIKS Finance Secretary P Krishna Prasad said they believed the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, which abolished the APMCs in 2006, is "anti-poor".

"The SKM has decided to campaign against the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar. We believe Nitish Kumar is anti-poor," he said.

The AIKS is part of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) that led the 2020-21 farmers' protests at Delhi borders against the farm laws.

He said the three major issues faced by farmers in Bihar are the non-availability of mandis to sell their crops, the poor state of MGNREGS, and a large number of agricultural workers being landless labourers.

Analysing the national data, the AIKS said that according to the Second Advance Estimates of Production for 2024-25, farmers cultivating the 20 major kharif and rabi crops could have earned nearly Rs 3 lakh crore more if their produce had been procured at prices determined by the Swaminathan Commission's recommended formula of C2 + 50 per cent.

"Over the last nine years (2016-2025), farmers growing these 20 crops have collectively lost an estimated Rs 24 lakh crore in income solely because the C2 + 50 per cent formula was not implemented, even under the assumption that the entire production was procured at the official Minimum Support Prices (MSP), which is unreal," it said.

The AIKS also said that the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), a government scheme that provides financial support to landholding farmer families by transferring Rs 6,000 annually, in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000, directly into their bank accounts, is a "betrayal" of farmers.

The scheme was announced in 2019 and implemented with retrospective effect from 2018.

The AIKS noted that as of early August 2025, over Rs 3.90 lakh crore has been disbursed to farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme. This total includes the release of the 20th instalment (August 2, 2025) of Rs 20,500 crore to over 9.7 crore farmers, the 19th instalment (February 24, 2025) of Rs 22,000 crore to more than 9.8 crore farmers and the 18th instalment (October 5, 2024) of Rs 20,000 crore provided to more than 9.4 crore farmers.

"If the MSP at C2+50 per cent had been implemented, then farmers cultivating 20 crops alone would have earned Rs 19 lakh Crore so that an amount of Rs 11 lakh crore could have been retained even after gifting Rs 7.80 lakh Crore to the prime minister," it said.

"The farmers of the country have seen the repeated betrayals by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 11 years since 2014. In 2016, the prime minister had announced to double the farmers' income by 2022; but failed miserably, yet 'succeeded' in doubling the cost of production and manifold increase in the assets of the corporate companies," the AIKS added.

The A2+FL+50 per cent formula, on which the MSP is fixed at present, includes costs incurred by the farmer and the value of the family labour, and adds 50 per cent of the cost to derive the MSP.

In comparison, according to the C2+50 per cent formula recommended by the National Commission of Farmers, C2 means comprehensive cost, which is A2+FL cost, and also adds the imputed rental value of owned land, interest on fixed capital, rent paid for leased-in land, and adds 50 per cent of the achieved value to determine the MSP. PTI AO MPL MPL MPL