Government Starts Procurement of Groundnuts at MSP in Gujarat

The Gujarat government has begun the acquisition of groundnuts for the current Kharif season at minimum support price (MSP) levels. This will come as a relief for farmers after the recent news of private agents buying crops at prices below MSP.

Raghavji Patel, Gujarat’s Agriculture Minister told the reporters that “The State government has made the arrangements to make the immediate payment to the farmers who sell their crop at the MSP. This will bring transparency and credibility in the process,”

The purchase will take place across the state through 155 procurement centres. At the MSP, all registered farmers will be able to sell up to 25 quintals of their produce. For the 2021-22 season, the MSP for oilseed has been set at Rs 5,550 per quintal by the Centre. The current market price of groundnut in Saurashtra was in the range of 4,855-5,500 Rs per quintal.

Patel initiated the State-wide procurement push from Jamnagar district on Tuesday. This year trade organisations have predicted Gujarat's groundnut crop to increase by 8.74 per cent to 38.55 lakh tonnes, from 35.45 lakh tonnes which was the amount produced last year.

On greater and more timely rainfall, the average production per hectare is predicted to be significantly higher at 2,020 kg/ha, up from 1,715 kg last year. According to the State government's first advanced estimate, groundnut output in the State is expected to reach 39.94 lakh tonnes in 2021-22, up from 39.86 lakh tonnes the previous year.

For the readers who dont know what MSP ( Minimum support price) is, It is actually a type of market intervention used by the Government of India to protect agricultural producers against a sudden drop in farm prices.

So, when the private agents across some states are actually buying the produce this year way lower than the MSP.

This procurement drive by the govt is surely like a silver lining among the clouds for the farmers.