Centre permits MP, Maharashtra and Karnataka to purchase soybean at MSP

The Centre on Tuesday permitted Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka to procure soybeans at the fixed MSP of Rs 4,892 per quintal.

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told reporters that a request was received from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka for the purchase of soybeans at MSP and permission has been granted to all of them.

Regarding Madhya Pradesh, which is the home state of the agriculture minister and where farmers have been on a warpath due to falling soybean rates, Chouhan said that the Centre is in regular touch with the state government and would do all things possible to help farmers there.

“Centre has two schemes running for purchase as MSP and Madhya Pradesh government is free to choose any of them to start procurement, though as per our information, there is still time for the crop to hit the market,” Chouhan said in a statement.

Soybean rates in Madhya Pradesh and also in neighbouring Maharashtra had touched multi-year lows due to bumper supplies and unrestricted imports of cheap edible oils.

Till a few weeks back, soybean prices had dropped to just around Rs 3,500 per quintal as against the MSP of Rs 4,892 per quintal before recovering a bit in the last few days.

Recently, farmers in the state have started a relay protest demanding a purchase price equivalent to Rs 6,000 per quintal.

Nationally, soybeans have been sown in around 12.51 million hectares of land this kharif season, which is nearly two per cent higher than the normal acreage under the crop. Normal acreage is the average acreage of the last five years.

The plummeting soybean rates just ahead of the harvest are also due to cheap imports of edible oils, which are now allowed at nil duty till March 2025.

This measure to control inflation has seen a flood of imported edible oils in the country negatively impacting farmers’ earnings.

Latest data sourced from Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) showed that in July 2024, India imported around 1.84 million tonnes of edible oils, which is marginally less than the 1.85 million tonnes imported in June 2024.

Most notably, India imported a record 1.08 million tonnes of palm oil which is the highest level reached since November 2022.