Madhya Pradesh has extended the procurement period for chana, masur and mustard harvested in 2019-20 (Jul-Jun) to Jun 10 from May 30 as the buying so far has been dismal, a senior official with the state government said today. "The state failed to procure even half of the target of 1 mln tn till May 30. Till now, just 445,628 tn of the three crops were bought. It prompted the Madhya Pradesh government to extend the procurement period," the official said.
Of the purchased quantity, 1,027 tn has been rejected as it didn't comply with the fair average quality standards, he said. So far this rabi marketing season, 204,500 farmers have sold their crop at minimum support prices. They have received only 62.4 mln rupees, and efforts are being made to complete the rest of the payment at the earliest.
Procurement of these rabi crops was kicked off on Apr 29 and initially, the pace of procurement was slow due to the lockdown but gathered momentum after relaxations by the state to ramp up buying, the official said. Madhya Pradesh is the largest producer of chana and among the leading growers of masur and mustard.
Farmers in the state had sown rabi chana across 2.7 mln ha in 2019-20, around 25% of the country's total area. It accounted for around half the country's total production of 11.2 mln tn, government data showed. Rabi masur acreage in the state fell 14% to 482,000 ha in the 2019-20 season, farm ministry data showed. State-run agencies are procuring chana at the minimum support price of 4,875 rupees per 100 kg, mustard at 4,425 rupees per 100 kg, and masur at 4,800 rupees per 100 kg.
Messages are being sent to registered farmers on their mobile phones, informing them of the date of procurement, and the state will take adequate measures during the procurement period to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the official said. The state has set up over 900 centres for procurement of chana, masur and mustard this year, the official said.
Earlier, the Centre had informed states that they could procure rabi pulses and oilseeds till 90 days to make up for the time lost during the initial days of the lockdown, the official said. However, Madhya Pradesh cannot continue procurement till 90 days from Apr 29, as it would mean buying during the monsoon season, which wouldn't be feasible for farmers and also damage the crop, he said.
The southwest monsoon enters the state around mid-June. Typically, procurement in the state begins from Apr 1, but this year, the lockdown delayed it by around a month.
