MANGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene urgently to resolve the “severe crisis” triggered by the steep crash in maize and green gram (moong) prices in the state.
The CM’s memorandum was handed over to the PM by Dakshina Kannada district in-charge and Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao during Modi’s arrival in Mangaluru on Friday. Lakhs of farmers are in distress as market prices have plunged far below the Minimum Support Price (MSP), despite a strong harvest. read the memorandum.
Siddaramaiah said that maize has been cultivated on 17.94 lakh hectares and green gram across 4.16 lakh hectares this season, yielding an estimated 54.74 lakh MT of maize and 1.983 lakh MT of green gram. However, the current market prices-Rs 1600-1,800 per MT for maize and Rs 5400 per MT for green gram-are drastically lower than the MSP of Rs 2,400 and Rs 8,768, respectively, the CM said, emphasising that such a steep drop is unprecedented as modal prices over the past three years were consistently above MSP.
The CM expressed particular concern over Karnataka’s surplus of 32 lakh MT of maize, far exceeding local industrial demand. Without immediate MSP procurement, he warns, farmers could be forced into distress sales. Siddaramaiah therefore urged the PM to direct NAFED, FCI and NCCF to begin procurement under the Price Support Scheme or another intervention mechanism.
The memorandum also highlighted distortions in the ethanol supply chain. Siddaramaiah said that several ethanol plants are procuring maize from traders instead of farmers or farmer producer organisations, defeating the purpose of MSP and the Centre’s incentive of Rs 5.79 per litre for maize-based ethanol.
The CM sought mandatory direct procurement from farmers and a review of incentives for units that bypass them.
Another key issue raised is the low ethanol allocation to Karnataka despite its substantial distillery capacity of 272 crore litres across 49 units and abundant maize surplus. Although oil marketing companies have allocated 758.6 crore litres of grain-based ethanol for 2025-26-478 crore litres from maize, Karnataka received only a disproportionately small share. Siddaramaiah argued that surplus-producing states like Karnataka deserve enhanced allocation to ensure stable MSP-level demand for maize. The CM also called for restrictions on maize imports from Myanmar, Ukraine and other countries.
On green gram, Siddaramaiah requests relaxing procurement quality norms to permit up to 10% discolouration, as unseasonal rains caused 6-10% discolouration in parts of the crop. Current norms allow only 4%.
Siddaramaiah concluded by stressing that MSP represents dignity and economic security for farming families. He urged swift action from the Centre to prevent widespread distress and safeguard Karnataka’s agricultural backbone.