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Public procurement of early kharif season pulses such as moong (green gram) and urad (black matpe) at minimum support price (MSP) is set to start in Karnataka soon.

The Centre has given its approval this week to procure 30,000 tonnes of moong and 10,000 tonnes of urad of fair average quality at MSP.

Sources said the procurement process will begin once the local district administration identifies the location for setting up the procurement centres. Moong and urad are mainly grown in the northern districts of the State.

Greengram harvest began early this month and market arrivals have picked up with prices ruling below the MSP of ₹7,275 per quintal across all key markets. This has triggered a demand from growers for the start of early MSP procurement. In Gadag, arrivals stood at 1,384 tonnes on Thursday and the modal price (rate at which most trades took place) was ₹5,995 per quinal.

Crops’ coverage

Moong is mainly grown in Gadag, Dharwad, Haveri, Belgavi, Vijayapur, Bagalkot, Koppal, Kalaburgi, Yadagir and Bidar districts this season. The harvest of urad, a 90-day crop will commence in the next few weeks. The Centre has fixed the MSP at ₹6,300. In Karnataka, urad is grown in Dharwad, Kalaburgi, Yadagiri, Belgavi, Bidar and Mysuru districts.

The Karnataka Agriculture Department expects production of moong at 1.2 lakh tonnes and urad at 0.43 lakh tonnes. During this kharif season, moong has been sown on 3.5 lakh hectares and urad on 0.83 lakh hectares.

NAFED has been appointed as the nodal procurement agency by the Centre, while Karnataka State Co-operative Marketing Federation will be the state-agency for the process.

An official notification said the maximum quantity to be procured from each farmer has been fixed at six quintals for each of these crops. On per acre basis, the maximum quantity of moong to be procured is four quintals, while it is three quintals for urad.

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