NEW DELHI — The Centre has prepared plans to go for increased buying of pulses
in the current Rabi season to ensure that farmers get remunerative prices for
their crops and step up cultivation of pulses to reduce dependence on imports.
A senior official confirmed that directions have been
issued to Central nodal agencies National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing
Federation of India Limited (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers'
Federation of India Limited (NCCF) to step up buying of Tur, Urad and Masur
pulses during the Rabi marketing season through the Price Support Scheme (PSS)
and Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF).
The two agencies have pre-registered around 21 lakh
farmers from large pulse producing states such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan
and Karnataka on their portal for purchase of their crops.
Union Minister of Agriculture, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, had
earlier assured the states that the Centre is committed to procure 100 per cent
of Tur, Urad and Masur produced by farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP)
to ensure crop diversification and achieve self-sufficiency in the production
of pulses.
Chauhan said the e-Samridhi portal has been launched
through NAFED and NCCF for registration of farmers and the government is
committed to procure these pulses at MSP from farmers registered on the portal.
He urged the state governments to encourage more and more
farmers to register on this portal so that they can avail the facility of
assured procurement.
During the 2023-24 Rabi season the Centre had procured
6.41 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of pulses at an MSP value of INR 4,820 crore,
which benefited 2.75 lakh farmers, according to official figures.
The procurement to support the farmers included 2.49 LMT
of Masoor, 43,000 MT of Chana and 3.48 LMT of Moong.
Similarly, 12.19 LMT of oilseeds of INR 6,900 crore of
MSP value were procured from 5.29 lakh farmers.
During the start of the Kharif season, market prices of
soybean were ruling much below the MSP, leading to great hardship to farmers.
With the intervention of the Centre under the PSS scheme,
5.62 LMT of soybean has been procured at MSP value of INR. 2,700 crore which
has benefited 2.42 lakh farmers.
