With just days left before the Central Government’s deadline to procure a massive 30 lakh tonnes (lt) of soybean from farmers, most states are still far behind their procurement targets.
Data shared by the National Cooperative Agricultural Marketing Federation (NAFED) showed that procurement is ongoing in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Gujarat. Of these, Maharashtra, where soybean is a major cash crop, has the highest target of 14.13 lakh tonnes (lt) with a deadline of January 12. However, the state has procured only 1.45 lt.
As soybean prices trade below their government-declared prices, traders’ bodies have urged the Central Government to speed up the procurement.
NAFED’s procurement at the government-declared Minimum Support Price (MSP) is a market intervention to help farmers get better prices for their produce. Farmers can sell their Fair and Average Quality (FAQ) soybean at the MSP of INR 4,892 per quintal at government-run procurement centers.
According to NAFED, nationwide soybean procurement stood at 5.05 lt as of December 17, against a target of 33.60 lt.
Barring Gujarat, the procurement window for soybean is set to close in most parts of the country by January 15.
In terms of procurement targets, Maharashtra is followed by Madhya Pradesh (13.68 lt), Rajasthan (2.94 lt), Gujarat (1.14 lt), Karnataka (1.11 lt), and Telangana (59,508 tonnes).
Telangana is the only state where the procurement target is likely to be met – the state has recorded procurement of 59,501 tonnes of soybean, and its procurement window closed on December 23.
Madhya Pradesh (2.58 lt), Karnataka (9,110.90 tonnes), Rajasthan (15,490 tonnes), and Gujarat (17,316.55 tonnes) are all lagging behind their targets. The procurement window is set to close in most states by mid-January or early February.
Given the extremely slow rate of procurement in most markets, farmers are forced to sell their produce at a rate of INR 4,050-4,060 per quintal.
The low procurement comes even as the Central Government had announced an early start to the process in view of the elections in Maharashtra.
Source: The Indian Express
