Govt aims at record MSP purchases of pulses and oilseeds

With market prices ruling below minimum support price (MSP) on robust crop prospects after staying at elevated levels for two years, the government is set to approve purchase of over 6 million tonne (MT) of oilseeds and 5 MT of pulses purchase under the price support scheme (PSS) in the key growing states for 2024-25 season (July-June).

Officials said this approval for MSP purchase of oilseeds and pulses in the current season would be a record, while previoulsy in 2017-18, the government agencies had purchased a 6.55 MT — 4.55 MT (pulses) and 2 MT (oilseeds) from the farmers. 

Officials said that so far the agriculture ministry has sanctioned purchase of 4.5 MT of pulses – tur, chana, urad, masur and moong – under PSS in the key growing states including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu in the both kharif and rabi seasons.

“The request for procurement of 0.54 MT of chana in Rajasthan has been received and an approval is expected soon,” an official said. Currently tur is being procured from the farmers while rabi purchase is set to pick up pace in  the next couple of weeks. 

Overall pulses procurement by agencies including farmers’ cooperative Nafed and NCCF under the PSS for creating buffer stock sharply declined to only 0.69 MT in 2023-24 from 2.83 MT and 3.03 MT in 2022-23 and 2021-22 respectively because of lower output pushing up prices above MSP.

Officials said in the last two years because of prices ruling substantially above MSP because of lower output, the agencies’ procurement under PSS has increased significantly.

While the agriculture ministry has so far sanctioned purchase of 1.5 MT of mustard across key producing states — Madhya Pradesh (0.49 MT), Uttar Pradesh (0.47 MT), Haryana (0.33 MT), Gujarat (0.12 MT), Assam (62,774 tonne) and Chhattisgarh (3050 tonne) under PSS for 2024-25 rabi season.

Rajasthan has sent request for purchase of 1.32 MT of mustard under PSS this season whose sanction is awaited from agriculture ministry

Traders said that the mandi prices of mustard are expected to rule below MSP of Rs 5950/quintal as arrivals pick up in the next couple of weeks.

In addition, MSP purchase of a smaller quantity of groundnut and sunflower has been approved in Telangana under the PSS in the current rabi season.

Meanwhile, the central agencies in association with the state government in the kharif season have purchased close to 2 MT of soybean and 1.5 MT of groundnut in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Gujarat, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh respectively from 1.3 million farmers against a small quantity purchased in the previous crop years.

Agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had stated earlier that the government agencies would buy oilseeds and pulses at the MSP for providing remunerative prices to farmers.

PSS, a component of PM-AASHA is implemented when the market prices of notified pulses and oilseeds and copra fall below the MSP during peak harvesting period to provide the remunerative price to the farmers.

To boost domestic production through providing incentives to the farmers and reduce the dependence on import, the existing procurement ceiling of 25% on tur, urad and masur under PSS had been lifted for 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. 

India imports 15% to 18% and 58% of its annual pulses and edible oil consumption respectively.

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Govt’ pulses* & oilseeds^ procurement (in million tonne)

*tur, chana, urad, moong & masur, ^soybean, mustard & groundnut, procurement season (July-June), 

procurement under the price support scheme, #as on March 5, 2025