Farmers give govt’s groundnut, pulses procurement centres a miss

Agriculture Minister Raghavji Patel had launched the statewide operations of National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (Nafed) from the old yard of Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Rajkot on October 21. Nafed, the apex agricultural cooperative marketing body, has engaged Gujarat State Cooperative Marketing Federation Limited (Gjcomasol) as the state level agency (SLA) for running groundnut procurement operations.

Similarly, it has engaged Indiagro Consortium Producer Company Limited (ICPCL), a consortium of farmer-producer organisations (FPOs) of Gujarat, as SLA for procuring green gram, black gram and soybean.

“We have opened 24 groundnut procurement centres across 12 districts of Saurashtra and north Gujarat regions. But no farmer has brought his groundnut to any of our procurement centres so far and hence, our procurement is nil so far,” Dinesh Suthar, chief executive officer (CEO) of Gujcomasol, said.

Freshly harvested groundnut lying on the farm of a farmer in Kamlapur village in Rajkot district. Express photo

Similarly, Indiagro has opened 38 procurement centres across the state for procurement of green gram (moong), black gram (urad) and soybean, but the company said its procurement of green gram and black gram has been nil. “No farmer has sold his green gram or black gram to us so far. All we have managed so far is procurement of around 10,000 tonnes of soybean,” Indiagro CEO Mansinh Sisodiya said.

The Agriculture Minister ascribed the phenomenon to higher market prices of these commodities. “Farmers prefer to sell their harvest in open market even if open market prices are at par with MSP because in open market, they get instant payment whereas they have to wait for a couple of weeks for the payment if they sell their produce to the government. Currently, market prices of these four commodities are higher than their respective MSPs and therefore, farmers are not turning up at our procurement centres,” Patel told The Indian Express.

The Central government has fixed Rs 6,377, Rs 8,558, Rs 6,950 and Rs 4,600 as the MSP for groundnut, moong, urad and soybean (yellow) respectively — an increase of Rs 527, Rs 803, Rs 350 and Rs 300 compared to the previous year — for the Kharif marketing season 2023-24. However, the modal price for groundnut, green gram, black gram and soybean in Rajkot APMC Thursday was around Rs 6,500, Rs 8,500, Rs 9,000 and Rs 4,650 respectively — higher than the MSP offered by the government.

“We are happy that farmers are realising good prices for their produce in

At a soybean procurement centre in Gujarat. Express photo

APMCs. But the government will be ready to procure their crop whenever they want to sell it to us in case prices in the open market slide,” Patel said.

When asked if the increase in the MSP by the Central government was enough given around six per cent inflation rate, the Gujarat Agriculture Minister said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed that MSP be fixed at cultivation cost-plus 50 per cent in a given year. The government had suggested hiking MSPs of Kharif crops by an average 10 per cent. But the Centre decides the final MSP by following a set procedure and it is the Centre’s prerogative. But overall, it has decided in the interests of farmers.”

Last year, no state farmer had sold groundnuts to government. This year, only 41,236 farmers from Gujarat have got themselves enrolled with Nafed for selling their groundnut so far. The respective numbers for green gram, black gram and soybean are 118, 74 and 27,069. “The registration window is still open. We will even think of allowing on-the-spot registration at our procurement centres if we feel such a need in the coming days,” added Patel.

Meanwhile, Sisodiya said that Indiagro will open procurement centres in non-traditional soybean areas. “In regions like south Gujarat, soybean is not a major crop and therefore, there are not proper market linkages, meaning fewer buyers at APMCs and hence, lower realisations for farmers. Therefore, we have decided to open procurement centres in such areas,” said Sisodiya.