With tur (pigeon pea) prices dipping below the minimum support price (MSP) levels, the Gujarat government on Thursday announced procurement of 1.28 lakh tonnes (lt) of tur from about 40 centres across 22 districts of the State.
According to State government estimates, tur acreage in the State stood at 2.72 lt and the production of the pulse commodity is likely to be around 3.14 lt.
The Centre has fixed MSP for tur at ₹5,450 a quintal. As a result, the State government has decided to procure tur through National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed). Tur prices in the spot markets hovered around ₹4,100 per quintal, nearly 25 per cent lower than the MSP.
The State Agriculture Minister RC Faldu made the announcement stating that the decision will benefit the tur-growers in the State.
“The online registration for farmers will start from March 5 and procurement will begin from March 12 after Nafed will inform farmers via SMS,” said Faldu.
The State government has fixed a procurement limit of 1,200 kg per hectare per farmer to allow more farmers to take benefit of the price-support measures.
According to farmer sources, Gujarat already has about 1 lakh tonnes of tur from the previous year stored in warehouses, while adequate storage arrangements will be required for additional storage of 1.28 lakh tonnes.
In October last year, amid bumper production, the Gujarat government had initiated procurement of groundnut at the MSP of ₹4,500 per quintal. However, with the upper ceiling for the procurement — 25 per cent of the total crop — being achieved, the State government has stopped the procurement beyond 8 lakh tonnes.