UDF Government Betrayed Paddy Farmers Despite Promise to Raise Procurement Price to Rs 35 per Kg

Palakkad: The UDF government, which came to power promising to raise the paddy procurement price to Rs 35 per kg and end the PRS loan system, has betrayed paddy farmers, according to criticism of its latest decision.

The state government has increased the paddy procurement price for 2026–27 from Rs 30 to Rs 31 per kg, but its own contribution has gone up by only 28 paise, according to the revised order. The government has been publicising the one-rupee hike as a 'Diwali gift' to farmers. However, 72 paise of the increase comes from the routine revision of the Centre's minimum support price (MSP). With the central MSP raised to Rs 24.41, the state government's incentive component has increased only from Rs 6.31 to Rs 6.59.

Even weeks after the first-season harvest began, the government had failed to start procurement or finalise agreements with rice mills. With procurement and the announcement of the revised price indefinitely delayed, most farmers in the district were left without storage space for their harvested paddy and forced to sell it to private mills at meagre rates of Rs 19–22 per kg. The government announced the price increase only after private players had acquired paddy from most of the paddy fields. Consequently, farmers will not benefit from the hike.

Another UDF promise was to replace the PRS system, under which banks provide loans in farmers' names to pay them for procured paddy. The party had promised that payments would be transferred directly to farmers' accounts as soon as the paddy was weighed. It had also pledged to prevent the system from affecting farmers' CIBIL scores. That promise, too, has remained unfulfilled.

The government's decision has come as another setback for farmers already struggling with doubled production costs, rising fertiliser and labour expenses, climate change, and pest and disease attacks.

LDF Stood by Paddy Farmers

Previous LDF governments had strengthened paddy procurement in Keralam and ensured one of the highest procurement prices for farmers in the country.

During the 2009–10 period, the VS Achuthanandan government expanded procurement by adding a state incentive of Rs 2.50 to the Centre's MSP of Rs 9.50, taking the price to Rs 12 per kg. The rate was subsequently increased in stages to Rs 14.

When the LDF government came to power in 2016, the procurement price stood at Rs 21.50 per kg. Taking farmers' production costs into account, the government increased it successively to Rs 22.50, Rs 25.30, Rs 26.95, Rs 27.48 and Rs 28.20. By 2025, the state incentive had been raised to Rs 6.31, taking the procurement price to Rs 30 per kg.

In addition to the procurement price, the LDF government supported paddy cultivation by providing a royalty of Rs 2,000 per hectare to paddy landowners and offering production bonuses.