Farmers’ income doubled, even rose 8-fold under NDA regime: Shivraj Chouhan

Responding to queries during Question Hour in Lok Sabha, he said the government had created schemes to solve problems and Rs 5 lakh crore was allocated for agriculture and allied sectors in the Union Budget for 2026-27.

Chouhan was replying to a question by TMC MP Sougata Ray, who sought a clear reply from him on whether farmers’ incomes had doubled or not as per the Centre’s claims.

As Ray said the government had not kept the promise of doubling farmers’ income and curbing farmers’ suicides, the Agriculture Minister said that farm production had increased and the government had taken several measures, including providing minimum support price (MSP) for crops and extending fertiliser subsidies to help the farmers.

“I, the Agriculture Minister of India, say that the income of farmers has doubled, in cases it has tripled and even grown eight times. A wrong narrative is being set. When their government (the UPA regime) was in power, there was no water, electricity, water or roads. There was just single crop (per year). We gave them steady supply of electricity and other infrastructure, due to which farmers are growing three crops now,” said the minister.

Chouhan further said during the UPA government’s rule, excuses were made in the name of implementing the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission. It was even said that giving MSP more than 50 per cent of the cost would distort the market.

“In contrast, the NDA government decided to determine the MSP by taking into account 50 per cent profit on production cost and continuously implemented it, enabling farmers to get better returns for their hard work,” said the Agriculture Minister.