Mint Explainer | Why India wants farmers to shift crops—without touching MSP or procurement

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India’s food grain procurement system, long centred on rice and wheat, has expanded far beyond its original food-security mandate, creating a costly surplus even as the country remains heavily dependent on imports of edible oils and pulses. Successive governments have relied on public procurement to stabilize prices, support farmer incomes and ensure reliable supplies for the public distribution system (PDS).

But in recent years, large-scale procurement, especially of rice and wheat, has outpaced underlying food security needs, resulting in chronically high buffer stocks and rising carrying costs. At the same time, India remains structurally dependent on imports of edible oils, pulses and some feedstocks. The Economic Survey 2025-26, tabled in Parliament on Thursday, flagged crop diversification as a policy priority, arguing that India’s production pattern must shift away from excessive concentration in rice and wheat toward pulses, oilseeds and other crops better aligned with consumption needs, resource sustainability and import reduction.

Mint explains why a voluntary approach, backed by targeted incentives and financed from efficiency gains within the existing system, is now preferred over altering the MSP (minimum support price), or weakening procurement. Why is it necessary to diversify from the wheat, paddy cropping cycle? The continued dominance of the wheat–paddy cycle has created economic, environmental and fiscal pressures. Paddy cultivation is highly water-intensive, contributing to groundwater depletion, soil degradation and higher energy use, especially in north-western India.