Soy, groundnut purchase deadline extended as prices remain below MSP

Extends deadline for soybean, groundnut procurement as prices stay below MSP

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday extended the deadline for the procurement of soybean and groundnut at the minimum support price (MSP) in Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat, and Karnataka beyond the usual 90 days, as prices have stayed below the MSP.

 

The procurement period for soybean under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) has been extended by 24 days in Maharashtra and 15 days in Telangana. The Union government has so far purchased a record almost 2 million tonnes (mt) of the crop at MSP this year, benefiting around 846,251 farmers.

 

Similarly, the procurement period for groundnut has been extended by six days in Gujarat and 25 days in Karnataka. The Centre has purchased around 1.57 mt of groundnut from farmers at MSP during the 2024-25 kharif season under PSS from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. This has benefited around 475,183 farmers, Chouhan said on the occasion of World Pulses Day.

 

Retail prices had fallen below the MSP by almost 16-22 per cent, prompting the Centre to procure soybean and groundnut from farmers. While the MSP for soybean stands at Rs 4,892 per quintal, groundnut prices in major wholesale markets are hovering around Rs 5,400 per quintal, almost 26 per cent lower than the MSP for the season.

 

Meanwhile, Chouhan said the Union Budget for FY26 had paved the way for the continuation of 100 per cent procurement of a state’s tur, urad, and masur production at MSP for the next four years.

 

The minister’s statement comes just days before scheduled talks with Punjab farmers, slated for February 14 in Chandigarh, on the contentious issue of guaranteed MSP. The purchases will be done through central nodal agencies to achieve self-sufficiency in pulse production. 

Govt to reimburse transportation cost of tomatoes

 

The Centre has also approved a proposal to reimburse the transportation cost of 1,000 tonnes of kharif tomatoes from Madhya Pradesh to Delhi under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS). Tomato prices have crashed in some mar-kets due to bumper harvest. The MIS is a programme to intervene in the perishable markets when their prices fall below a fixed intervention rate.  

MIS norms have been tweaked to allow intervention only when there is a minimum reduction of 10 per cent in the prevailing market price as compared to the previous normal year. The procurement limit of production quantity of crops has been increased from the existing 20 percent to 25 percent and states have also been given the option to pay the difference between the Market Intervention Price (MIP) and the selling price directly into the bank account of the farmers in place of physical procurement.  Indian sugar mills close early, lifting local prices 

Over three dozen sugar mills in leading cane-producing states halted operations last week, nearly two months earlier than usual, due to lower cane supplies caused by adverse weather, industry official told Reuters. These early closures will produce less sugar than initially estimated. The slower pace of shipments from India, the world’s second-biggest sugar producer, will support global prices.

  Indeed, there was a big jump in mill closures this year. At least 37 mills in the western state of Maharashtra, neighboring Karnataka, and the northern state of Uttar Pradesh have closed operations, said a senior industry official, who declined to be named.