Rajya Sabha MP G C Chandrashekhar seeks Centre’s intervention to help distressed Karnataka farmers

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha member G C Chandrashekhar on Friday urged the Centre to immediately intervene and support sugarcane, maize, and tur farmers in Karnataka, who are facing severe distress due to a sharp crash in market prices.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, the MP highlighted the crisis faced by farmers during the 2025-26 Kharif season.

He informed the House that tur dal has been cultivated on 16.3 lakh hectares in the state this season, with an expected production of 12.6 lakh tonnes. Despite the bumper crop, prices have collapsed.

“The Karnataka government had requested the Centre on 6 November 2025 to immediately begin procurement of tur at the declared Minimum Support Price (MSP). However, no action has been taken so far,” he said.

"A similar crisis is also affecting maize farmers. Since maize is not consumed as a staple food in Karnataka and cannot be distributed through the Public Distribution System (PDS), procurement under the Price Deficiency Payment (PDP) mechanism is not feasible, " he said.

Consequently, the State government sought Central approval for a separate Price Deficiency Payment Scheme on 19 November 2025, but approval was still pending.

The MP pointed out that farmers in the drought- and flood-prone regions of Kalyana Karnataka and Kittur Karnataka have produced around 60 lakh metric tonnes of maize this year. Despite the good output, the Centre is yet to announce the MSP for maize.

In the absence of Central support, the Karnataka government has stepped in and increased the procurement limit from 20 to 50 quintals per acre, but this alone is insufficient.

Chandrashekhar also noted that the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by the Centre for procurement of maize for ethanol production has remained ineffective because distillers have not received firm orders from distilleries.

He further highlighted a nationwide issue saying that over 350 distilleries across India now face uncertainty due to the new ethanol blending tender for 2025-26, which prioritises supply from “deficit zones”, leaving many established distilleries without allocation despite heavy investments.

The Rajya Sabha member urged the Central government to immediately approve and commence MSP-based procurement of tur and maize, open procurement centres well before peak arrivals, provide enhanced compensation to farmers affected by recent heavy rains and floods, review and revise the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugarcane in line with rising input costs.