By Sanavver Shafi

Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh: April in Madhya Pradesh is supposed to be the farmer's month in Madhya Pradesh. The trails are loud with tractors, golden wheat fills the fields, and for a brief window, a year of hard work feels like it is about to pay off. Weddings are planned. Loans are meant to be repaid. For once, the math is supposed to work.

This year, it did not.

The Madhya Pradesh government declared 2026 the "Farmer Welfare Year",  with ceremonies, speeches, and considerable fanfare. But step outside Bhopal and that slogan dissolves quickly. What replaces it is the sound of grown men speaking with choked throats, crops rotting in flooded fields, and fires burning a year's work to ash.

Three crises converged at once: unseasonal weather that flattened crops across 41 districts, a gunny bag shortage triggered by the conflict in West Asia that delayed government wheat procurement by weeks, and a loan repayment deadline that fell before farmers had a rupee in hand. Together, they have pushed the farmers of Madhya Pradesh toward distress, default, and open revolt.

The sky turned against them

Kuber Rajput, 32, stands in his 10-acre field in Khajuri Kalan village, 30 kilometers from Bhopal, and cannot hold back tears. His wheat crop is spread out before him which has been waterlogged and damaged to such an extent that it is unsellable.  

"In late February and early March, unusual heat ripened the crop too early. We did extra irrigation to try to save it. Then the rains came and washed away everything we'd done. Now all we can do is pray."

The science backs him up. Dr Anand Harshana, Senior Scientist at the Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa Kendra in Indore, said that temperatures hit 38.5 degrees in the first fortnight of March,  forcing premature ripening of wheat ears. Then, at the end of March, a Western Disturbance combined with moisture rising from the Bay of Bengal to sweep through 41 districts of the state. Strong storms and hailstorms on March 30 completely flattened standing crops across Mandsaur and Ujjain.

Dr KP Asati, Senior Scientist at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Dhar, explains what happens to wheat in these conditions: "When grain is in the ripening stage and heavy rain hits with strong winds, the plant lodges it falls to the ground. The flow of carbohydrates to the grain stops. The grain shrivels." In government procurement language, warehouse operator Rahul Dhoot said, this is called Luster Loss, and it means the wheat gets rejected at procurement centers on grounds of high moisture.

Ganpat Dodia, 36, and Rajendra Ravi Chauhan, 42, both from the same village as Kuber, lost gram and wheat across 22 and 14 acres respectively. Rajendra's frustration carries a pointed edge: "If we had received weather warnings in time, the loss could have been reduced."

In Rafiqganj village, Sehore district, Avadh Narayan sowed the premium Sharbati wheat variety across 20 acres. His voice is hollow. "By this time last year the money was in my account. This time my crop is lying cut and soaked, and the government hasn't even started procurement."

His neighbour Naresh Parmar hasn't slept properly in weeks. "It's been a month since the harvest. Every night I stay awake in the field, one spark and everything is gone."

Naresh's fear proved well-founded, just not for him personally. On April 1, in Raisen district, fire consumed 50 acres belonging to 11 farmers. Twenty-five tractors were deployed to help. The fire engine ran out of water. The crop was gone. Similar fires have been reported in Betul, Narmadapuram, Dewas, Satna, and Khargone.

In Harda, farmer Mahendra Kumar, 35, survived the weather only to face a different wall. "Somehow I harvested the wheat. But now I'm begging for fertilizer. Urea worth Rs 280 is being sold in the black market for Rs 1,200. Should we farm, or finish ourselves?"

Convenient delay

Even farmers whose wheat survived the weather are trapped, this time by a shortage of the bags needed to sell it.

The government has fixed the wheat Minimum Support Price at Rs 2,625 per quintal this year, including bonus. Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, and Narmadapuram divisions began procurement from April 10, while all other divisions from April 15, but due to loan repayments, fear of unseasonal rain and hailstorms, and preparation for the next crop, most farmers in the state had already sold their produce before MSP procurement even began. Last year, procurement began on March 15.

The official explanation: an ongoing war in the West Asia. With Iran having closed the Strait of Hormuz, India's crude oil imports have been disrupted. The polypropylene (PP) and high-density polypropylene (HDPP) bags used to fill wheat at procurement centres are petroleum derivatives. Reduced crude supply choked domestic bag production, and Madhya Pradesh found itself short.

See also: West Asia conflict won’t affect farmers of Bihar, says Minister Ram Kripal Yadav

An emergency high-level meeting was convened in Bhopal, chaired by Food Minister Govind Singh Rajput. The numbers presented were stark: over 19 lakh farmers have registered to sell wheat. The government needs to procure roughly 78 lakh metric tons. Bags are currently available for only 35 lakh tons — less than half the requirement. The Jute Commissioner subsequently allocated 50,000 additional bales of jute bags to the state.

Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav held a separate review meeting and instructed that small farmers be prioritised first. Food Minister Rajput assured that bag supplies would be secured before procurement opened. "Tenders have been issued. Jute bags from the Centre have started arriving," he said.

On the ground, none of this has helped yet. With government procurement unavailable, traders have moved in. Farmers are selling wheat in open mandis for Rs 2,150 to Rs 2,400 per quintal — Rs 225 to Rs 475 below MSP. Many report additional deductions of Rs 400 to ₹700 per quintal in the name of moisture and quality.

Dashrath Singh Bharti drove 29 kilometres from his village Bagonia to Bhopal's Karond Mandi with 55–65 quintals of wheat. His son's wedding is on April 15.

"The government scales open on the 10th. By the time the money reaches my bank account, it will be May. The wedding cards are already out. I sold my Lokwan wheat for Rs 2,150 — a direct loss of Rs 475 per quintal. But what could I do? It was my son's wedding and my honour."

The bag shortage story also has an inconvenient subplot. Wheat bags were found stockpiled in the private warehouse of Berasia MLA Vishnu Khatri. The administration blacklisted the warehouse. The question this raises is one farmers across the state are asking loudly: if bags are unavailable, how are they sitting in a ruling party MLA's godown?

Shivkumar Sharma, known as "Kakkaji," President of the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh, is blunt: "This is match-fixing. The government does not have bags, but bags are available in the MLA's warehouse and with private traders. This is a deliberate conspiracy to let traders loot farmers."

Even the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh — ideologically aligned with the ruling BJP — is not buying the official line. Lakshmi Narayan Patel, BKS President for Malwa Prant, puts it plainly: "The war just started. Why didn't the government arrange bags beforehand? This is causing double loss to the farmers."

The loan trap

While weather and procurement delay alone would be enough to break most farmers, a third blow has landed — this one entirely of the government's own making.

Approximately 80 percent of farmers in Madhya Pradesh borrow for the crop season through Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperative Societies (PACS) at zero percent interest. The deadline to repay these loans was March 28, 2026 — nearly three weeks before procurement was even scheduled to begin.

The arithmetic is brutal, and Akhilesh Meena of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh states it simply: "When the government won't buy wheat until April 10-April 15, where does the farmer get money to repay the loan by March 28?"

These are not small amounts. From April 2024 to January 2025, Rs 18,392 crore was disbursed under this scheme across the state. Loans are sanctioned up to Rs 35,300 per acre, with 75 percent in cash and 25 percent adjusted against fertilizer and seeds.

Anand Singh drove 32 kilometres from his village Pathan to Karond Mandi with 65 quintals of wheat. Traders bought his Lokwan wheat at Rs 2,200, below MSP, citing high moisture. He did not have the luxury of waiting for a better price.

See also: No Rain in Wakching Leaves Manipur Farmers Uncertain About the Coming Season

"I had to repay the loan. If I became a defaulter, I wouldn't get zero percent loans in future, and I wouldn't receive fertilizer and seeds at government rates for the next crop either."

PACS Manager Rakesh Verma confirms the mechanics: miss the deadline and a penalty is levied. Default long enough and the farmer is categorised as a defaulter, losing the zero-percent benefit entirely. Lakshmi Narayan Patel of BKS spells out the cascade: "The moment you default, the zero percent facility ends. The outstanding amount is then recovered at 7 percent normal interest plus 14 percent penal interest."

Farmer organisations allege that due to the government's failure to extend the repayment date, 60 percent of the state's farmers became defaulters overnight.

The reckoning coming in May

The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, a farmers' body aligned with the RSS and, by extension, the ruling BJP,  has now turned formally against the state government. Memorandums have been submitted at tehsil and district levels across the state. An ultimatum has been issued: meet the demands by May 15 or face statewide agitation.

The 10-point demand list includes: full loan waiver, higher MSP, withdrawal of stubble-burning cases, and immediate compensation for hailstorm and rain damage. BKS Khandwa unit has separately demanded the loan repayment deadline be extended to May 31.

The Sanyukt Kisan Morcha and Congress have issued parallel warnings of demonstrations. Opposition leaders Kunal Choudhary, Digvijaya Singh, and Arun Yadav have pointedly noted that the Rs 2,700 MSP promised to farmers during the 2023 Assembly elections has arrived, in practice, at Rs 2,625, and even that figure is out of reach for most farmers this season.

Lakshmi Narayan Patel's words carry a particular sting because of where they come from: "The government talks about doubling farmer income. Its policies are making farmers defaulters. If demands are not met by May 15, there will be a fierce agitation across the state."

The most structurally sound demand comes from Akhilesh Meena, who argues for a permanent fix rather than a seasonal patch: the loan repayment deadline, he says, should be moved to May every year, because wheat is harvested in April and payment only comes after it is sold. "The fiscal year deadline of March 31 does not match farming's cycle. This uncertainty doesn't need to repeat every year."

This article was originally published in 101 Reporters under Creative Common license. Read the original article.

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