Centre approves direct procurement of chana, mustard and lentil at MSP

Farmers of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat will benefit from this decision, an official statement said

The Centre has approved direct procurement of 2.8 million tonnes of chana, 2.82 million tonnes of mustard, and 0.94 million tonnes of lentils at minimum support price (MSP) in the current rabi season to ensure farmers get remunerative prices for their crops.

 

Farmers of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat will benefit from this decision, according to an official statement.

 

The purchases have been approved under the revamped Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan under which the government has promised to buy 100 per cent of tur, urad and masoor (lentils) if their prices fall below the MSP for the next four years till 2028-29.

 

The Centre had also approved the purchase of tur (arhar) at MSP from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh in the 2024-25 kharif season.

 

Moreover, the purchase period of tur in Karnataka has been extended by 30 days from 90 days till May 1, 2025. It has also purchased record quantities of soybean in the kharif season after prices dropped below MSP.

 

So far, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) and the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF) have purchased 0.24 million tonnes of tur from Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Telangana at MSP benefitting almost 171,569 farmers in these states. In Uttar Pradesh tur prices are above the MSP.

 

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the Modi government’s aim is to benefit farmers, and it will leave no stone unturned to fulfill this “sacred” objective. He also appealed to states to ensure that there is no procurement below MSP.

 

He said procurement of copra (milling and ball) has been approved in Tamil Nadu. “The government has also ensured the use of Nafed and NCCF portals to simplify the registration process for farmers.”