With bumper groundnut crop, the government of Gujarat has procured around 3 lakh tonnes of the crop under its Price Support Scheme (PSS).
PSS was started by the state nodal agency- Gujarat State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd in coordination with the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFEDN) in November. About 1.4 lakh farmers across the State have participated.
The State government has till now purchased around 3 lakh tonnes at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 5000/ quintal. Gujarat govt. stated that it has made payments worth Rs 1129 cr to 1.13 lakh farmers. The market prices for the commodity have dipped below the MSP. At Rajkot markets, the prices ranged from 3250 to 4450 per quintal.
As per the rule, each farmer was allowed to bring 2,500 kg of his crop for procurement. Based on the PSS mandate, the procurement can be carried out for a maximum of 25 percent of the total crop. Last year’s instances’ of fraudulent activities during the procurement has reportedly made the government stricter with increased surveillance at the procurement centers.
