Bengaluru, 9 Dec

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately approve MSP procurement of toor dal through two central agencies, and ensure immediate operational deployment across the State's major procurement centres before peak arrivals begin.

In a letter to Modi dated 8 December and shared with the media on Tuesday, Siddaramaiah recalled that the State Karnataka has already submitted a formal proposal seeking immediate approval for MSP-based procurement of toor dal through National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Limited (NCCF).

"However, we are still awaiting a response from the Union Government," he stated.

Siddaramaiah pointed out that during the current Kharif season (2025-26), toor dal has been sown across approximately 16.80 lakh hectares in the State, with an expected production of over 12.60 lakh metric tonnes.

"The crop represents the backbone of income for farmers across major growing districts including Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Bidar, Raichur, Vijayapura, Koppal, Belagavi, Ballari, Vijayanagara, Bagalkote, Kolar, Chikkaballapura and Chitradurga, regions," he stated.

At present, the modal market prices are ranging between Rs 5,830 and Rs 6,700 per quintal, while the MSP announced for toor dal for 2025-26 stands at nearly 28,000 per quintal, he said.  Peak arrivals are expected between December 2025 and January 2026, but the Union Government will open the procurement centres only in February and March.

"It is evident that farmers are staring at a serious income shock, unless timely and decisive intervention is undertaken by the Union government," the CM stated. "Every day of delay is pushing Karnataka's farmers closer to distress sales, debt traps and irreversible financial damage.”