Mandi prices of 7 Kharif crops ruled 12-26% below MSPs, only 3 crops commanded higher

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Half of the 14 Kharif crops, for which the government declares the minimum support price (MSP), ruled at least 10 per cent below their respective benchmark rates during October-November, the first two months of the harvesting season. On the other hand, only three crops – tur, sesame and paddy (non-Basmati) — were seen above MSPs and cotton almost at par.

Though paddy (non-Basmati) rates widely vary from state to state depending on varieties, the all India average rate that farmers had received was ₹2,345/quintal, which is 2 per cent more than its MSP of ₹2,300/quintal, according to data maintained by Agmarknet portal.

Maize farmers also received 3.1 per cent lower than its MSP of ₹2,225/quintal on pan India average during first two months of harvesting season. But it is more due to state specific reasons as only Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra had reported below MSP in maize whereas in Karnataka it was at par. But Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana had reported above MSPs, as per mandi data captured by the Agmarknet portal.

“Nafed is spearheading the maize procurement by registering farmers and linking them with ethanol distilleries under a government scheme. Still, if maize farmers are selling at below MSP, there is something wrong somewhere and by dismissing all those produce as not meeting fair average quality (FAQ) will never solve the issue of MSP guarantee,” said Rampal Jat, president of Kisan Mahapanchayat, a farmer organisation in Rajasthan fighting for MSP guarantee for decades.

He cited an instance of how the procurement agency performs on ground and said that after protest by farmers a meeting was called by the Ajmer district magistrate on December 7 where officials of procurement agency and farmer leaders were present, and it was decided to start purchase of moong from December 9. Even those crops which was earlier rejected as not meeting FAQ without any lab testing will be purchased by the agency, Jat said. In Rajasthan, the biggest produce of moong, farmers are selling the crop at ₹5,500-6,000/quintal, Jat said.

Data showed that all India average price of tur was ₹9,725/quintal, up by 28.8 per cent from MSP of ₹7,550/quintal, but moong was ₹6,894/quintal, down by 20.6 per cent from MSP of ₹8,682/quintal and urad at average ₹7,248/quintal, down by 2.1 per cent from MSP of ₹7,400/quintal.

Among oilseeds, except sesame which was 24.9 per cent above MSP at ₹11,574/quintal, all other crops were sold below MSP during October-November.

Soyabean was ₹4,168/quintal, 14.8 per cent below MSP of ₹4,892/quintal, groundnut at average ₹5,372/quintal, 20.8 per cent from ₹6,783/quintal MSP, sunflower at ₹5,704/quintal against ₹7,280/quintal MSP and niger at Rs ₹7,652/quintal against ₹8,717/quintal MSP.

Nafed is the Centre’s key nodal agency to procure pulses and oilseeds crops at MSP under the price support scheme and the government reimburses the losses to it after the crops were sold in the market.

Jowar prices were seen at an average ₹2,887/quintal as against MSP ₹3,371/quintal, bajra at ₹2,492/quintal against ₹2,625/quintal MSP and ragi at ₹3,164/quintal as against ₹4,290/quintal MSP.

The agriculture ministry has estimated 2024 kharif foodgrains output at 164.71 million tonnes (mt), up by 5.7 per cent from 155.77 mt year-ago whereas this year’s target was 158.06 mt. The estimated production, as per the ministry, for rice is 119.93 mt, pulses 6.95 mt, coarse/nutri cereals 37.82 mt and oilseeds 25.74 mt.