Mustard prices may soften when government agencies start selling.

28-Jun-2024 04:04 PM

New Delhi. The purchase by the Central Agriculture Ministry's subordinate agency - NAFED and Haryana's provincial agency - HAFED had led to a good increase in the price of mustard and its price had increased to around or above the minimum support price (MSP).

According to the data received, about 19.70 lakh tonnes of mustard was purchased by government agencies at the national level during the current Rabi marketing season,

while with the previous stock of 7.50 lakh tonnes, its total quantity increased to 27.20 lakh tonnes. During the current season, 7.74 lakh tonnes of mustard was purchased by HAFED, while the remaining purchase was done by NAFED. NAFED has purchased mustard in five states.

Under this, 3.51 lakh tonnes of mustard was purchased in Rajasthan, 3.65 lakh tonnes in Madhya Pradesh, 3.25 lakh tonnes in Haryana, 1.17 lakh tonnes in Gujarat and about 45 thousand tonnes in Uttar Pradesh.
It is noteworthy that in February 2024, the then Agriculture Minister had said that to bring stability in the domestic market price,

the government will buy mustard from the farmers at the minimum support price. Procurement also started from mid-April. The minimum support price of mustard has been increased by Rs 200 from Rs 5450 per quintal for 2022-23 to Rs 5650 per quintal for the 2023-24 season.

When the market price of mustard increased above the MSP due to the purchase of government agency- NAFED, the pace of government procurement slowed down.

As a result, the price has come down a bit now. NAFED and HAFED have a huge stock of mustard and sooner or later it is also going to be sold. With this stock coming into the market, the pressure on the price of mustard may increase further.