Govt to procure 4.5 MT pulses at MSP
By Sandip Das
With mandi prices ruling below the minimum support price (MSP) due to robust crop prospects, the agriculture ministry has sanctioned the purchase of a record 4.5 million tonne (MT) of pulses from farmers under the price support scheme (PSS) for the 2024-25 marketing season.
Officials stated that tur, chana, urad, masur, and moong will be procured under the PSS across key growing states, including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu, in both the kharif and rabi seasons.
“This season’s sanction is an all-time record,” an official said, adding that the government’s 100% purchase commitment for tur, urad and masur has encouraged states to seek higher procurement under the PSS. “Only a proposal from Rajasthan for chana procurement is awaited,” the official told FE.
With the government’s pulse buffer stock falling to less than half of the norm, procurement agencies—including Nafed and the National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF)—are working with state agencies to bolster stocks and ensure MSP support for farmers.
For the current kharif season, the agriculture ministry has sanctioned the purchase of 1.32 MT of tur, of which 0.14 MT has already been procured at MSP.
For the rabi season, the approved procurement includes: 2.16 MT of chana (gram), 0.94 MT of masur (lentils), 90,000 tonne urad and 13,500 tonne moong. In Rajasthan, around 0.4 MT of chana is expected to be procured, pending the state’s formal proposal. Rabi pulses are typically purchased from March to May, while kharif pulse procurement is already underway.
The last record procurement was in 2017-18, when 4.5 MT of pulses were purchased under PSS. However, overall procurement dropped significantly in recent years, falling to 0.69 MT in 2023-24, down from 2.83 MT in 2022-23 and 3.03 MT in 2021-22.
Officials attributed the sharp decline in government procurement over the last two years to market prices staying above MSP due to lower production. Sources said against the buffer norm of 3.5 million tonne (MT), which the government needs to carry out a market intervention programme for curbing the possibility of rise in prices, the agencies currently hold only 1.45 MT of pulses.At present, the government holds only 1.45 MT of pulses in its buffer stock—far below the 3.5 MT norm required for market intervention to curb price volatility, sources stated.
A significant portion of this stock consists of 0.75 MT of moong and 0.56 MT of masur—some of which was sourced through imports.On Saturday, mandi prices for tur, a key kharif crop, were ₹7,375/quintal in Akola, Maharashtra, compared to the MSP of ₹7,550/quintal. This is also 30% lower than the ₹10,525/quintal price a year ago.
Similarly, chana, a major rabi pulse, has just started arriving in Delhi mandis and is trading at ₹5,525/quintal, below its MSP of ₹5,650/quintal and 10% lower than the ₹6,150/quintal price a year ago.Retail inflation in pulses declined by 0.35% in February, down from 2.59% in January, reflecting expectations of a strong kharif and rabi harvest. In contrast, pulse inflation had surged as high as 113% in August 2024.
In 2019, the policy of maintaining a buffer stock of pulses was created aimed at controlling prices through market intervention programmme.The buffer stocks for pulses were created mostly through domestic procurement via PSS but also through imports using the price stabilisation fund.
This article has been republished from The Financial Express.