Sale of mustard and soybean from government stock will put pressure on prices

04-Jun-2025 11:01 AM

New Delhi. During the last Kharif season, the Central Government's agency NAFED procured large quantities of soybean and groundnut from farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP). Similarly, significant procurement of mustard was done during the Rabi Marketing Season of 2025.

Now, with the government starting the process of selling this stock, the supply in the market will increase, leading to pressure on prices. This may make it difficult for farmers to sell their remaining stock of oilseeds at profitable rates.

According to data, a tender was issued on June 5, 2025, for the sale of 1,01,758 tonnes of mustard at multiple centers in Haryana, with the auction scheduled between 12:00 and 12:45 pm.

The auction centers include Hisar, Fatehabad, Bhiwani, Rewari, Jhajjar, Mahendragarh, and Palwal. The sale of mustard through auctions had already been ongoing.

Additionally, a tender was issued for the sale of soybean on June 4, 2025, scheduled between 11:00 and 11:30 am. Under this, 44,828.2 tonnes of soybean were to be auctioned at 20 centers in Telangana and 2,36,219 tonnes in Madhya Pradesh.

Due to wholesale prices consistently staying below the MSP, the government had to intervene with large-scale purchases. Now, as that stock is being released into the market, it is putting downward pressure on prices.

Soybean is still trading below its MSP of Rs 4,892 per quintal. For example, in the auction held on June 2, 2025, soybean was sold at Rs 4,370 per quintal, implying a loss of Rs 522 per quintal for the government.

Farmers are unhappy with the current selling price and are concerned about their ability to get fair returns for their produce.