The Odisha Government will start procurement of oilseeds and pulses at the minimum support price (MSP) from farmers which will start from 13th May.
According to the report, the Ministry of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare has approved the State government’s proposal for procurement of 13,225-tonne green gram (moong), 700-tonne black gram (biri), 7,775-tonne groundnut pods and 675-tonne sunflower seeds at MSP announced by the Centre for 2021-22 rabi season to save farmers from exploitation by middlemen.
The report further elaborates that the centre has fixed the MSP for fair average quality (FAQ) moong at Rs 7,196 per quintal, Biri at Rs 6,000 per quintal, sunflower seed at Rs 5,885 per quintal, and groundnut at Rs 5,275 per quintal. The procurement operation, to continue for two months till August 10, will be undertaken by Odisha State Cooperative Marketing Federation (MARKFED) for National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED).
The oilseeds and pulses will be procured from the nodal agency from the registered farmers through primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACS) and large area multi-purpose cooperative societies (LAMPS), Regulated Market Committees (RMCs) and Farmers Producer Organisations. Even the detailed guidelines for procurement of pulses and oilseeds have been issued to all district Collectors with specific reference to the observance of Covid-19 guidelines.
The government will procure a maximum of two quintal moong and biri per acre while a registered farmer can sell six quintal groundnut per acre. And the payment will be released directly to the bank accounts of the farmers on the digital platform by MARKFED within three days from the actual delivery of their products to the procuring agencies.
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