Possibility of emphasis on increasing government procurement of selected pulses and oilseeds
11-Jul-2024 06:08 PM
New Delhi. The Central Government may insist on 100% procurement of selected pulses and oilseeds from farmers at Minimum Support Price (MSP) so that it can help in increasing its production.
The Union Agriculture Minister is also constantly stressing that Arhar (Tuvar), Urad and Masoor should be procured completely. It is understood that the government is willing to give MSP to the farmers under any circumstances. There are two options for this.
The first option is that the government should directly purchase the entire marketable stock of pulses and oilseeds from the farmers through its agencies and pay them the minimum support price.
The second way is that if the farmer sells his produce at a price below the MSP in the open market, then activate the Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana to ensure him the support price.
According to informed sources, the government's flagship scheme - Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) is likely to be revised and refined in the Union Budget for the financial year 2024-25 so that farmers can definitely get the minimum support price for certain pulses and oilseeds.
Although the plan for its purchase at MSP is already in place, but for this a certain quantity was determined in each producing state.
The central government had made a rule that a maximum of 25 percent of the production of pulses and oilseeds in each state would be purchased at the minimum support price.
Often the purchase quantity is less than this limit, while farmers were forced to sell the remaining part in the open market at a price lower than the MSP. In view of the very high prices of tur and urad and the increasing dependence on imports, the government has now planned to buy the entire stock of the farmers (which they want to sell) at the minimum support price.
This will provide relief to the producers and they will be encouraged to increase production. The government has set a target of making the country self-sufficient in the production of pulses by the year 2027 and has started efforts to achieve it.