With market prices for jowar and sunflower dipping below the Minimum Support Price (MSP), the Telangana government has stepped in to procure both commodities. The government has expanded maize procurement by approving an additional bank guarantee of ₹1,867.77 crore, bringing the total expenditure for this season to nearly ₹6,000 crore.
“We have not received a favourable response from the Union government regarding our request to provide financial support for procurement of these commodities at the MSP. So, we have decided to do it ourselves,” Tummala Nageswara Rao, Minister for Agriculture, said.
The State expected a bumper maize crop of about 43 lakh tonnes from the 2025-26 rabi season, with an average production of 26.50 quintals an acre.
“We have already given a bank guarantee for ₹4,173 crore for the Marketing Federation to procure maize. We have so far procured 13 lakh tonnes. We have decided to procure another 6.50 lakh tonnes,” the Minister said.
As against an MSP of ₹2,400 per quintal, maize prices are ruling at ₹1,700 per quintal, causing losses to farmers.
The government will also procure jowar (hybrid) at the MSP level for a similar reason. The market price of jowar fell to ₹2,000 per quintal, against the MSP of ₹3,699. It said it would spend about ₹1,100 to procure the commodity. The State pegs jowar output at 4 lakh tonnes.
Similarly, it will procure sunflower at the MSP of ₹7,721, as prices fell to ₹5,376 per quintal. “While the Centre prescribes a limit of 25 per cent for procurement at MSP, we have decided to go well beyond the limit to bail out farmers,” the Minister said.
Published on May 25, 2026