In a bid to support farmers and widen the government?s procurement drive, the country?s premier foodgrain procurement and canalising agency, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) is planning to scale up its purchases of coarse cereals during the ongoing kharif crop season.
Sources said that Nafed was likely to purchase about 5 lakh tonne of bajra (millets) in Rajasthan where the prices of the cereal have plummeted in the recent months. Against the government?s minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 840 per quintal, current market prices for bajra have drastically gone down to Rs 640 per quintal. Sources told FE that the state government has sought Nafed?s support in enabling farmers obtaining the MSP and a final order is expected from food ministry shortly. ?The price difference would be reimbursed to Nafed by the government,? sources added.
This would be the second big procurement initiative by the agency, which started buying wheat on behalf of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) since the past two years. More than 2 lakh tonne of wheat valued at Rs 170 crore was procured by Nafed on behalf of FCI in 2007.
Recently, Nafed had intervened in Bihar to procure maize in order to halt the surge in prices. Due to Nafed?s intervention and the government?s decision to ban maize exports, the prices of maize crashed from Rs 732 per quintal to Rs 500 per quintal.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking the removal of export ban or to allow procuring agencies to procure maize from farmers. He also requested Nafed to procure ther crop.
During 2007-08 Nafed purchased 9.4 lakh tonnes of foodgrains, such as, bajra, guar, jowar, maize, paddy, rice, wheat and barley valued at Rs 885.85 crore in its outright account besides procuring 24,930 million tonne of rice valued at Rs 33.38 crores on a tie-up basis.
According to the 1st advance estimates released by ministry of agriculture recently, bajra output in the country is expected to be around 9.17 million tonne during 2008-9 against 9.79 million tonne recorded last year. Bajra is mainly produced in northern India during the kharif sowing season.
Bajra is mainly produced in northern India during the kharif sowing season. This year, the government started its annual procurement earlier than scheduled due to the arrival of some early-sown varieties in Haryana and Rajasthan.