Effectiveness of Minimum Support Price Policy for Oilseed Crops in Maharashtra, India

Minimum Support Price (MSP) is an agricultural price policy instrument intended to support farmers' price realisation and agricultural production. This study assessed the effectiveness of MSP for soybean, groundnut and sunflower in Maharashtra over 2014–15 to 2024–25. Using secondary data, compound annual growth rates and exponential trends were estimated for market arrivals and prices. Differences between market prices (MPs) and MSPs were examined, and multiple regression models were used to assess associations between production, MSP, MP and cultivated area. Soybean arrivals increased significantly by 7.76% annually, whereas groundnut arrivals declined by 4.75% and sunflower arrivals remained nearly unchanged, with growth of 0.03%. Market prices increased significantly for soybean (5.20%), groundnut (3.51%) and sunflower (5.72%) during the study period. Soybean market prices exceeded MSP in seven of the eleven years, compared with three years for groundnut. Sunflower market prices remained below MSP throughout the study period. Regression estimates indicated positive associations between MSP and production for soybean and groundnut at the 10% significance level, while the corresponding association was not statistically significant for sunflower. Cultivated area was positively associated with groundnut production at the 1% significance level and with sunflower production at the 10% level. Overall, the findings indicate crop-specific differences in observed price support and suggest the importance of effective procurement and market access for oilseed producers.