AgriMin to buy 1 lakh tonnes tur dal from Maha under PSS

To give relief to Maharashtra growers faced with falling tur prices, the Ministry of Agriculture has decided to procure up to 1,00,000 tonnes of the pulse till May-end under its price support scheme (PSS) after the food ministry expressed its reservations to buy.
Nearly 4 lakh tonnes of tur dal have already been procured from Maharashtra under the price stabilisation fund (PSF) operated by the food ministry. The state chief minister had last month sought procurement of additional 2 lakh tonnes under the PSF in view of the bumper crop of 20.35 lakh tonnes.
But food minister Ram Vilas Paswan had refused the request, saying farmers were no more getting their kharif produce and it was only traders and importers. The state, which started procuring from its own resources, later sought help from the agriculture ministry under the PSS.

"On May 5, 2017, request for implementation of PSS was again received from Maharashtra. In the fresh proposal, they had requested for procurement of 2 lakh tonnes of tur... Considering the proposal, this department has approved the procurement of one lakh tonnes under PSS up to May 31," the agriculture ministry said in a statement.
The approval has been given with the condition that the procurement already by the state till April 27 will not be reimbursed or adjusted under PSS and the state government will make necessary arrangements for godown space and other resources for smooth PSS operation, it said.

The Maharashtra government has informed the Centre that that its 2016 kharif tur output would be 20.25 lakh tonnes and it has extended the harvesting period from September-March till this month-end.
Wholesale rate of tur dal has come under pressure due to higher output and in some places farmers are not getting even the minimum support prices.
The agriculture ministry has even proposed hiking import duty on tur dal from 10 per cent to 20 per cent to protect the interest of farmers.