Siddaramaiah | Photo credit: File photo
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighting the issue of steep fall in prices of maize and green gram in Karnataka, saying it has caused deep concern among farmers.
Mr. Siddaramaiah urged Mr. Modi to direct NAFED, FCI and NCCF to immediately start awarding contracts for minimum support price (MSP) under the price support scheme or any other suitable mechanism to address farmers’ grievances.
“Prices fell well below the MSP declared by the Government of India, triggering widespread unrest among cultivators,” he said in a statement.
The Chief Minister pointed out that while the Center has fixed the MSP at ₹2,400 per tonne of maize and ₹28,768 per tonne of green gram, the prevailing prices in Karnataka have come down to ₹1,600-1,800 per tonne of green maize and around ₹40 to 5 grams of green maize.
Even modal prices for the last three years were higher than MSP, but external pressures and distortions in supply and demand pushed prices down to record lows, the chief minister said.
Karnataka had a marketable surplus of 32 thousand tonnes of maize, which far exceeded the absorptive capacity of the local industry, Mr. Siddaramaiah pointed out.
Published – 22 Nov 2025 21:43 IST
