Soyabean Procurement Extended in Maharashtra, Telangana: Centre

New Delhi, Feb 10 (PTI) The Centre has extended procurement of soyabean in Maharashtra by 24 days and Telangana by 15 days, beyond normal purchase period of 90 days, to protect farmers' interest.

Groundnut procurement in Gujarat has been extended by six days, and in Karnataka by 25 days.

According to an official statement, the government approved the procurement of soyabean under the price support scheme (PSS) in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Telangana for Kharif 2024-25.

A quantity of 19.99 lakh tonnes of soyabean has been procured till February 9, 2025 benefitting 8,46,251 farmers.

"Minister of agriculture and farmers' welfare Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan has approved the proposal to extend the period of procurement in Maharashtra by 24 days and in Telangana by 15 days beyond the normal procurement period of 90 days keeping the interest of farmers of the state," the statement said.

Similarly, the government approved the procurement of groundnut under the PSS in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh for Kharif 2024-25.

A total of 15.73 lakh tonnes of groundnut has been procured till February 9, 2025 benefitting 4,75,183 farmers.

Chouhan has approved the proposal to extend the period of procurement of groundnut in Gujarat by six days and in Karnataka by 25 days beyond the normal procurement period of 90 days in the interest of farmers of the state.

Meanwhile, the Centre also approved the continuation of the integrated Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) Scheme during the 15th Finance Commission Cycle up to 2025-26.

The PM-AASHA scheme comprises PSS, Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS), Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) and Price Stabilisation Funds (PSF).

Department of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare administers PSS, PDPS, and MIS, whereas the Department of Consumer Affairs administers PSF.

The PM-AASHA Scheme is administered to bring in more effectiveness in the implementation of procurement operations. This would not only help in providing remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce but also control the price volatility of essential commodities by ensuring their availability at affordable prices to consumers.

Under the PSS, the procurement of notified pulses, oilseeds and copra conforming to the prescribed fair average quality (FAQ) is undertaken by the central nodal agencies (CNAs) at the MSP directly from the pre-registered farmers through the state-level agencies.

Further, to incentivise the farmers contributing to the enhancement of domestic production of pulses and to reduce the dependence on imports, the Centre has allowed the procurement of tur, urad and masur under PSS equivalent to 100 per cent of the production of the state for the 2024-25 procurement year.

The government has also announced in the Budget that procurement of tur, urad and masur up to 100 per cent of the production of the state will be continued for another four years through central nodal agencies to achieve self-sufficiency in pulses in the country, the statement said.