Govt procured 8.9 mn tonnes of oilseeds, pulses from FY16 to Dec 2018: Min

The agri minister said 89 lakh tonne of oilseeds and pulses were purchased till December 2018 as against eight lakh tonnes purchased between 2010-11 to 2013-14

The government has purchased 89 lakh tonnes of oilseeds and pulses from 2015-16 to December, 2018 and the process is on, Agricultrue Minister Radha Mohan Singh said in Rajya Sabha on Friday.

Replying to a query during the Question Hour in the Upper House, the Minister said 89 lakh tonne of oilseeds and pulses were purchased till December 2018 as against eight lakh tonnes purchased between 2010-11 to 2013-14.

He said the purchases were made under price support scheme (PSS) through agriculutre cooperative NAFED and purchases were on.

In reply to another query, he said MSP operation was initiated in states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh within 24 hours as prices of certain commodities like potato had fallen 10 per cent in view of higher production.

The procurment was undertaken in the ratio of 50:50 sharing of funds by the Centre and states.