GS Paper III · Agriculture
MSP & Farm Subsidies Current Affairs for UPSC (GS Paper III)
From the syllabus: Major crops and cropping patterns, irrigation, storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce; farm subsidies and MSP; PDS, buffer stocks and food security; economics of animal-rearing; food processing; land reforms; e-technology for farmers
Why it matters: Procurement policy debates and fiscal sustainability issues are frequently framed to test your knowledge of agrarian support systems.
In the news
October 2026
02 Oct 2026
Cabinet Approves Hike in Rabi Minimum Support Prices for 2027-28The Union Cabinet has approved an increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for all mandated Rabi crops for the 2027-28 marketing season. The highest absolute increase was recommended for safflower at 675 rupees per quintal (a 10.3...
September 2026
26 Sep 2026
Accelerating Groundwater Exploitation and Agrarian Crisis in PunjabRapid depletion of groundwater in Punjab due to unsustainable agricultural practices is severely impacting small-scale farmers. Incentives like free power have led to excessive tubewell irrigation, causing aquifers to drop to critical...
August 2026
02 Aug 2026
Cabinet Extends PM-Kisan Scheme for Four More YearsThe Union Government has extended the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme for another four years, allocating 3.15 lakh crore rupees. Since its launch in February 2019, the scheme has transferred over 4.47 lakh crore...
July 2026
26 Jul 2026
India targets self-reliance with National Investment Policy for Urea-2026India has formulated the National Investment Policy for Urea (NIPU)-2026, which is aimed at achieving absolute self-reliance in domestic urea production. The policy focuses on encouraging fresh investments in the fertilizer sector to...
05 Jul 2026
The National Challenge of Industrial Urea DiversionThe Punjab urea diversion case has highlighted a chronic national challenge where heavily subsidized agricultural urea is illegally diverted to plywood, resin, and adhesive manufacturing units. Because agricultural urea is highly...
Practise MSP & Farm Subsidies
7 of our latest questions on this topic.
Question 1 of 7
Regarding the determination of Minimum Support Prices (MSP) in India, which of the following statements is correct?
Mains practice
The diversion of highly subsidized agricultural inputs, such as urea, for industrial purposes represents a persistent fiscal and administrative challenge in India. Analyze the underlying causes of this diversion and suggest comprehensive policy reforms to plug these leakages without compromising farmers' welfare.
15 marks
Previous years' questions
Past exam questions sorted by topic are coming here. Until then, the full papers are in our previous papers library.