Chickpea Procurement to Start Mid-March
15-Jan-2026 09:34 PM
New Delhi. Sowing of chickpeas, the most important pulse crop of the Rabi season, has almost been completed, and harvesting of the early-sown crop will begin next month.
Arrivals of the new crop will begin in almost all major producing states in March, and government procurement under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) is also likely to commence then. There has been a significant increase in the area under chickpea cultivation this year.
According to senior official sources, sufficient supplies of good and average quality chickpeas will start arriving in major wholesale markets of the producing states from mid-March.
If prices there fall below the Minimum Support Price (MSP), government procurement from farmers can begin. It is worth noting that new chickpeas start arriving in February, but the plan is to start government procurement from mid-March.
Officials say that chickpeas arriving in February may have a higher moisture content, while dry produce starts arriving from March, and then farmers will not face any difficulty in selling their produce at the MSP.
Chickpeas with a maximum moisture content of 12 percent will be considered of normal average quality. Arrivals of this category of chickpeas pick up pace from mid-March. Between March 15 and 31, the moisture content in chickpeas gradually decreases, and their quality becomes suitable for government procurement.
According to official sources, during the 2026 Rabi marketing season, the government will try to procure at least 10 lakh tonnes of chickpeas for its buffer stock. However, if arrivals in the markets are high and prices remain low,
government procurement could exceed 10 lakh tonnes. Government agencies will not be bound to limit themselves to a predetermined quantity for chickpea procurement and can increase the quantity as needed.
According to analysts, until the strong supply of the new crop begins, the market price of chickpeas is likely to fluctuate within a certain range. The MSP for chickpeas has been increased to Rs 5875 per quintal for the next marketing season.