RAS question
By how much was paddy MSP increased for Kharif 2025-26?
Correct answer: (B) ₹69 per quintal.
For Kharif Marketing Season 2025-26, paddy MSP was increased by ₹69 per quintal.
Explanation
The increase was ₹69 per quintal, not a rounded headline number. The PIB release on MSP for Kharif crops for Marketing Season 2025-26 says the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved higher MSPs for 14 Kharif crops to ensure remunerative prices to growers. In its table, the paddy row lists the MSP increase for 2025-26 as 69, a 3% rise. That is why option B is the precise answer: the question asks for the increase in paddy MSP, and the official crop-wise MSP table gives ₹69 per quintal for paddy.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) ₹50 per quintal is below the official paddy MSP increase shown in the PIB table for Kharif 2025-26.
- (C) ₹100 per quintal overstates the paddy increase; the official table records 69 for paddy under MSP Increase in 2025-26.
- (D) ₹120 per quintal is not supported by the paddy row in the official MSP table, which gives the increase as 69.
Concept
This tests Minimum Support Price policy, especially crop-wise MSP changes for Kharif crops. Such figures recur in RAS because agriculture pricing links current affairs with Indian Economy and farmer-welfare policy.