New Delhi, March 13 (IANS) The procurement of Tur (Arhar) from farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) by the Centre has picked up momentum with a total quantity of 1.31 lakh metric tonnes procured in major producing states including Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana till March 11, benefiting as many as 89,219 farmers in these states, the Agriculture Ministry announced on Thursday.
Under the Price Support Scheme of the integrated Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA), the procurement of the notified pulses, oilseeds and copra conforming to the prescribed Fair Average Quality is undertaken by the Central Nodal Agencies at the MSP directly from the pre-registered farmers through the state-level agencies.
The Government of India approved the continuation of the integrated PM-AASHA Scheme during the 15th Finance Commission Cycle up to 2025-26.
The integrated PM-AASHA Scheme is administered to bring-in more effectiveness in the implementation of procurement operations that not only helps 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, the official statement said.
In order to incentivise the farmers contributing for the enhancement of domestic production of pulses and to reduce the dependence on imports, the government has approved the procurement of the entire production of Tur, Urad and Masur under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) for the procurement year 2024-25.
The government has also made an announcement in Budget 2025-26 that the procurement of Tur (Arhar), Urad and Masur would be undertaken for 100 per cent of the production of the state for another four years up to 2028-29 through Central Nodal Agencies to achieve self-sufficiency in pulses in the country.
Accordingly, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shivraj Singh Chouhan approved the procurement of Tur (Arhar) Masur and Urad to the extent of 13.22 LMT, 9.40 LMT and 1.35 LMT respectively.
He approved the procurement of Tur (Arhar) in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh under Price Support Scheme for the Kharif 2024-25 season for a total quantity of 13.22 LMT.
Tur procurement is also done from pre-registered farmers on eSamridhi portal of NAFED and aSamyukti portal of NCCF.
The Centre is committed to procure 100 per cent of Tur from the farmers through central nodal agencies NAFED and NCCF.
–IANS
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