NEW DELHI, Dec 21: Amid fall in tur rates below the MSP level, the government today said cooperative Nafed has started procurement of the pulse at the support price in Karnataka, Telangana and Maharashtra.
At present, pulses farmers are bringing to mandis their tur or arhar produce grown during the rain-fed Kharif season of this year, but the wholesale rates have dropped to below the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 5,050 per quintal in some states.
“Prices of tur have fallen marginally below the MSP. Nafed has started procurement in three states to protect the interest of farmers,” Agriculture Secretary Shobhana Pattanayak told PTI.
Nafed has procured some small quantity of tur from Karnataka and Telangana in the last few days. It will be doing so in Maharashtra as well, he said.
With Nafed entering the market for procurement, prices of tur will automatically firm up in the coming days and rule above the MSP level, he added.
Even if tur prices remain slightly above the MSP, Pattanayak said, “We will continue procurement of pulses for our buffer stock purpose.”
The government has decided to create a buffer stock of 2 million tonnes of pulses through domestic procurement and imports.
About 1.2 lakh tonnes of pulses has been purchased directly from farmers so far in the 2016-17 crop year by three agencies Nafed, FCI and SFAC. Much of the pulses has been purchased by Nafed.
As per the first advance estimate of the Agriculture Ministry, tur production is pegged at a record 4.29 million tonnes in the 2016-17 kharif season, as against 2.46 million tonnes in the year ago period.
The ministry has estimated total pulses production to be at record 20-21 million tonnes in 2016-17 crop year on account of good monsoon and higher support price. (PTI)
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