On 21 September 2020, the Government approved the increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for the 2021 winter “Rabi” crops, to be planted from October. The MSP for wheat, the main “Rabi” crop, was increased by INR 50 or about 3 percent up from last year to INR 1 975 per quintal (USD 268 per tonne), while the MSP for barley was increased by nearly 5 percent to INR 1 600 per quintal (USD 217 per tonne). MSPs for chickpea, lentils and oilseeds were also raised by 2 percent to 6 percent, depending on the crop. The MSPs are the prices at which the federal Government buys food grains from farmers, aimed to ensure farmers’ profits and boost production. Their revision takes into account, among other factors, the production costs as well as the returns to farmers. Procurement at the new MSPs will begin in April 2021. In 2020, the Government procured a record high volume of wheat amounting to about 39 million tonnes despite the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdown.