The arrival of Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2020-21 has just begun and the Government continues to procure Kharif 2020-21 crops at minimum support price (MSP) from farmers as per its existing MSP as done in previous seasons, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has said in a statement today.
Based on the proposal from the states, approval has been accorded for procurement of 14.09 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of pulse and oilseeds for Kharif Marketing Season 2020-21 for the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Haryana. For other states and union territories, approval will also be accorded on receipt of proposal for Kharif pulses and oilseeds and procurement of FAQ grade will be made as per Price Support Scheme (PSS), if the market rate goes below its MSP during the notified harvesting period, the ministry has further said.
According to the Agriculture Ministry, upto September 28, 2020, the Government of India through its nodal agencies has procured 46.35 MT of moong having MSP value of Rs.33 lakh in Tamil Nadu. Similarly, 5,089 MT of copra (the perennial crop) having MSP value of Rs. 52.40 crore has been procured in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu against the sanctioned quantity of 1.23 LMT for Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
The procurement of paddy (rice) during KMS 2020-21 has started from September 26, 2020 in Haryana and Punjab. Upto September 28, 2020, the paddy procurement of 3,164 MT in Haryana and 13,256 MT in Punjab totalling 16,420 MT having MSP value of Rs. 31 crore at MSP of Rs 1,888 per quintal has been done from 1,443 farmers in both the states. The procurement of paddy for the remaining states has just commenced from September 28, 2020, the ministry has informed.
The procurement of cotton for the season 2020-21 shall commence from October 1, 2020 and Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) will start purchase of FAQ grade cotton from that day.
