New Delhi, (Samajweekly) The Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said on Tuesday that about 65 per cent more wheat has been procured during current Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) as compared to the corresponding period of last year, adding that over 299.16 LMT of wheat has been procured at MSP so far by the central procuring agencies, benefiting 29.46 lakh farmers.
Procurement of wheat in the ongoing RMS 2021-22 is continuing smoothly in the procuring states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir and Bihar at MSP, as was done in the previous seasons, the ministry said.
Till May 3, over 299.16 LMT of wheat has been procured as against 181.37 LMT procured during the corresponding period of the previous year. About 29.46 lakh farmers have already benefited from the ongoing RMS procurement operations with an MSP value of Rs 59,083.37 crore.
Paddy procurement in the ongoing 2020-21 Kharif season is continuing smoothly in the procuring states with purchase of over 721.97 LMT of paddy up to May 3 against last year’s corresponding purchase of 665.02 LMT.
About 108.37 lakh farmers have already benefited from the ongoing KMS procurement operations with an MSP value of Rs 1,36,307.90 crore, the ministry said.
Further, based on the proposal from the states, approval has been accorded for procurement of 107.08 LMT of pulses and oilseeds in Kharif Marketing Season 2020-21 and Rabi Marketing Season 2021 for the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh under the price support scheme (PSS), the ministry said.
The sanction for procurement of 1.23 LMT of copra (the perennial crop) for the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala was also given.
For other states/UTs, approval will be accorded on receipt of proposals for procurement of pulses, oilseeds and copra under the PSS so that procurement of FAQ grade of these crops can be made at notified MSP for the year 2020-21 directly from the registered farmers, if the market rate goes below MSP during the notified harvesting period in the respective states/UTs by the Central nodal agencies through the state nominated procuring agencies.
Up to May 3, the government through its nodal agencies procured 6,27,276.56 MT of moong, urad, tur, gram, masoor, groundnut pods, mustard seed and soyabean having an MSP value of Rs 3,289.01 crore benefiting 3,98,050 farmers in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana and Rajasthan, the ministry said.
Similarly, 5089 MT of copra having an MSP value of Rs 52.40 crore has been procured benefiting 3,961 farmers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu up to May 3.
