The Central Government has launched a major initiative to ensure the procurement of pulses at Minimum Support Price (MSP), aiming to benefit farmers and reduce the country’s import dependence. This initiative specifically focuses on promoting the production of pulses such as tur (pigeon pea), masoor (lentil), and urad (black gram).
This drive, two key government agencies – NAFED and NCCF – have registered 3.8 million and 2.6 million farmers, respectively. The initiative began ahead of the last Kharif season and is now expanding rapidly. Its primary goal is to provide input assistance to farmers and ensure the procurement of their crops at MSP.
Before the procurement of pulses and maize, farmers are required to complete Aadhaar-based verification and pre-registration through the “e-Samriddhi” portal (NAFED) and “e-Sanyukti” portal (NCCF). Under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) of the Ministry of Agriculture, the government has assured 100% procurement of tur, urad, and masoor varieties at MSP. The earlier purchase cap of 25% has been removed for the 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons.
According to NCCF Managing Director Mr. Anees Joseph Chandra, efforts are being made to ease access for farmers through on-the-spot registration at procurement centres. So far, 1.3 million farmers across 29 states have registered for maize procurement, and 1.6 million for pulses. Cooperative societies are also involved in maize distribution.
Special Focus on Non-Traditional States: The government’s initiative is particularly focused on non-traditional pulse, oilseed, and maize-producing states such as Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Bihar. In these states, farmers are being provided with high-quality seeds, and efforts are being made to ensure that their produce meets the required quality standards for MSP procurement.
So far in the 2024–25 season, NAFED and NCCF have procured 0.36 million tonnes and 0.16 million tonnes of tur from farmers in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh respectively—marking the highest procurement volume since 2019–20.
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