The Agriculture Ministry said that the Centre has procured 1.92 lakh tonnes of gram and tur dal and 1.83 lakh tonnes of mustard seeds, totalling 3.75 lakh tonnes under the Price Support Scheme (PSS), amid the COVID-19 lockdown. The PSS is operationalised on state governments' request when prices fall below the minimum support price (MSP). The procurement is undertaken by nodal agencies like National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) at MSP. Only fair average quality commodity is purchased.
However, in view of COVID-19 pandemic, the daily procurement limit has been increased from 25 quintals to 40 quintals per day under the PSS for rabi crops. The ministry said PSS has been operationalised for procurement of pulses and oilseeds growing in the rabi season of 2019-20 crop year (July-June) in seven states -- Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
Among pulses, about 72,415 tonnes of gram (chana) have been procured from five states -- Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. About 1.20 lakh tonnes of tur dal has been procured from seven states -- Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Odisha. In case of oilseeds, the Centre has purchased 1.83 lakh tonnes of mustard seed from three states -- Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
As per the second estimate of the ministry, pulses and oilseeds output during 2019 rabi season has been pegged at 15.11 million tonnes and 10.75 million tonnes, respectively. According to the ministry, standard operating protocol (SOP) related to crop harvesting and threshing is being adhered to by farmers and workers. States have been asked to ensure compliance of SOP in order to protect the health of farmers and farm workers and contain the spread of coronavirus.
Meanwhile, wheat harvesting across the country is continuing at a brisk pace amidst the COVID-19 lockdown. As reported by the states, nearly 99% of wheat crop has been harvested in Madhya Pradesh, 92-95% in Rajasthan, 85-88% in Uttar Pradesh, 55-60% in Haryana, 60-65% in Punjab and 87-88% in other states so far.
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