Tuesday, Jun 23, 2020

By Kaushal Verma

NEW DELHI - Madhya Pradesh plans to procure pulses till July 29, well into the monsoon season when procurement is typically difficult, to help farmers as the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic led to logistics issues, a senior official with the state government said.

"The government is assuring farmers that their crop will be purchased despite the rains," the official said. The state generally stops procurement before the monsoon rains gather strength in July.

All safety measures such as storing the pulses in the covered area of the procurement centres, will be taken to avoid any damage due to the rain, he said. The four-month long monsoon began this month.

In the state, the monsoon usually starts by mid-June and covers the entire state by the end of the month, according to the India Meteorological Department.  

The procurement drive for summer pulses, mainly moong and urad, will continue for around a month as the registration of farmers will be completed on Thursday, the official said. 

Under the scheme, pulses will  be procured at the minimum support prices so as to protect farmers from facing losses due to the fall in prices in physical markets, he said. 

The minimum support price for moong is 7,050 rupees per 100 kg and for urad it is 5,700 rupees for the 2020-21 (Apr-Mar) marketing season.

The state plans to procure 154,000 tn of the 616,000 tn moong and urad harvested in the summer season of 2019-20 (Jul-Jun), the official said. The state aims to buy 144,000 tn moong and 10,000 tn urad.

Out of the 616,000 tn harvest, moong is expected to be 576,000 tn, and urad will account for the rest, he said.

Madhya Pradesh extended the last date for registration so that more farmers can sell their crop at the centres.

The shorter duration summer crops are sown in March--after the harvest of rabi crops--and harvested before the sowing of kharif crops in June. These crops are mainly sown on irrigated land.

Madhya Pradesh is the leading pulse grower in the country.  End

Edited by Michael Correya

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