Guaranteed MSP Purchase of Pulses to Support Crop Diversification
The Indian Government’s Efforts to Boost Farming Through Digital Platforms
The Indian government has taken significant steps to support farmers by registering over 6.4 million of them on digital platforms such as Nafed and NCCF. This initiative aims to ensure Minimum Support Price (MSP) procurement of pulses like tur, masur, urad, and maize. The primary goals are reducing import dependence and increasing ethanol production in the country.
State-run agencies Nafed and NCCF have successfully registered 3.8 million and 2.6 million farmers, respectively, on these digital platforms. The government provides assured input support and buyback of commodities at MSP to help farmers. The focus is on boosting the production of pulses and maize, thereby decreasing import reliance and enhancing ethanol output.
The registration process began before the kharif season last year. Currently, Nafed and NCCF pre-register farmers on their portals, namely e-Samriddhi and e-Samyukti, through Aadhaar authentication before procuring pulses and maize. The government guarantees to procure 100% of pulses at MSP under the Price Support Scheme (PSS).
The agencies have lifted the existing procurement ceiling of 25% on pulses for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. This move allows farmers to sell their harvested pulses at MSP or to private traders if market prices exceed the MSP.
NCCF has registered 1.3 million farmers for maize procurement and over 1.6 million farmers for pulses procurement across 29 states. The cooperative organization also oversees the distribution of maize to distilleries.
Efforts are concentrated on expanding the outreach of the government’s procurement program by providing spot registration of farmers on the portal. Nafed and NCCF have already purchased substantial amounts of tur from farmers at MSP in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh. The agriculture ministry has made biometric face authentication and the use of Point of Sale (PoS) machines mandatory for MSP purchases, starting from the next kharif season.
The government’s aim is to ensure that genuine farmers benefit from procurement under various schemes. Integrating portals used for farmer registration with the ministry’s unified portal on agricultural statistics and uploading procurement of oilseeds and pulses in real time will be essential steps in achieving this goal.
In the past five years, India has imported a significant amount of pulses from various countries due to a decline in domestic production and an increase in demand. PSS, a component of PM-AASHA, is implemented to provide a remunerative price to farmers when market prices fall below MSP during peak harvesting periods.
