TIRUCHY: While the farmers have been fighting for an increase in Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy, a recent circular by the Union Government to the State Government to withdraw the state incentives had created a furore among the farmers, and they have planned to intensify their protest for the MSP based on recommendations by MS Swaminathan.
On January 9, 2026, the Department of Expenditure of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, sent a circular to the state governments to review the existing bonus (incentive) given by the state governments in addition to the MSP for paddy and wheat.
The department had also suggested discontinuing the bonus, and this issue was raised in the Rajya Sabha by Kerala MP John Brittas during the session, and he received a response from the department that reassured the suggestion. And John Brittas shared this in his ‘X’ handle and said that the Kerala farmers who were receiving Rs 3,000 per quintal of paddy, which includes the state incentive of Rs 631 per quintal. He also charged that the farmers would lose their income to a large extent when the state incentive was withdrawn.
The information about the circular had created ripples among the farmers from Tamil Nadu who have been fighting for an increase in the MSP for paddy.
“The Union Government gives Rs 2,389 per quintal of paddy of fine variety while Rs 2,369 is fixed for the common variety and the Tamil Nadu government gives the incentive of Rs 156 for fine variety and Rs 131 for common variety and thus we get Rs 2,545 for fine variety and Rs 2,500 for common variety which comparatively less than the states like Chhattisgarh and Odisha where the MSP for paddy is Rs 3,100 per quintal”, said Swamimalai Sundara Vimalnathan, Secretary, Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Protection Association.
Vimalnathan pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the Farmers conclave in 2016, promised to double the income of farmers by 2022, but there is no sign of it till today, he said.
“At this juncture, the suggestion to withdraw the state incentive would be another blow to the farmers, and the Union government should reconsider this; otherwise, we will intensify our protest for an increase in MSP for paddy,” Vimalnathan said.
PS Masilamani, the General Secretary of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, said that it shows the anti-farmer attitude of the union government. “But still, the decision is concerned with the respective state and Tamil Nadu government will never withdraw the incentive,” he expressed.