Karnataka will pay a bonus price of ₹300 per quintal to growers of tur (arhar), over and above the Centre’s minimum support price (MSP) of ₹5,800 for the 2019-20 season.

Though the bonus has been reduced from last year’s ₹425 a quintal, farmers in the State will get a total support price of ₹6,100 per quintal, same as that of last year. The Centre had increased the MSP of tur to ₹5,800 from ₹5,675 last year.

The Centre has given approval to Karnataka to procure 1,82,875 tonnes of tur during the 2019-20 marketing season. Karnataka, the largest producer of tur, expects to begin procurement of the crop from the first week of January in key producing districts such as Kalaburgi and Yadgiri.

With new crop hitting the market, the prices of tur have been been ruling below the MSP over the past few days across various markets. Modal prices have been hovering between ₹3,000 and ₹5,300 per quintal.

Arrivals are expected to pick up from early January as the harvest has been delayed by unfavourable weather conditions.

Karnataka is expecting a higher production of tur at 10.79 lakh tonnes this year despite a decline in acreage because of good rains. Tur was planted on about 11.99 lakh hectares, according to Karnataka Agriculture Department.

Last year, tur production in the State stood at 10.19 lakh tonnes from an acreage of 15.29 lakh hectares. According to Nafed, tur stocks with government agencies in the State stood at 871.5 tonnes as on December 21.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, tur was planted on some 45.82 lakh ha across the country, higher than previous year’s 45.75 lakh ha. The first advance estimates have projected tur output at 3.54 million tonnes, marginally lower than previous year’s 3.59 mt.

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