New Delhi. The Central Government has approved the proposal to start procurement of 50,750 tonnes of peanuts from farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) in Uttar Pradesh. The Agriculture Minister of UP had informed that this time peanuts were cultivated in 1.74 lakh hectares during the summer or zaid season in the state and its production is expected to be better. The MSP of peanuts is fixed at Rs 6783 per quintal, but the wholesale market price is running much below this, so peanuts should be purchased at MSP.

Shelled peanut seeds did good business in Jorhat and due to demand from oil millers, price of 40/50 count seeds improved by Rs. 300 to Rs. 8800 per quintal, 50/60 count jumped by Rs. 500 to Rs. 8500 and 60/70 count by Rs. 400 to Rs. 8100 per quintal. Prices remained stable in other mandis due to limited business.

During the week under review, daily arrival of peanuts in Rajkot mandi was between 3 to 6 thousand bags while its quantity was recorded at 1000/1700 bags in Jhansi, 900/1250 bags in Mahoba and 1750-2100 bags in Mauranipur.

The price of groundnut oil in loose form remained steady at the previous level of Rs. 1375 per 10 kg in four markets of Gujarat- Rajkot, Gondal, Junagadh and Jamnagar and due to limited trading in other centres also, there was no significant fluctuation. The price of branded groundnut oil remained steady at Rs. 2350 per tin (15 litre) in Kota. However, the price of filtered groundnut oil increased by Rs. 25-50. The trading in groundnut DOC remained weak and the prices softened slightly.