Pawar says no ceiling on mustard procurement

Mustard procurement by the government has already topped 1 million tonne and will continue until its prices rise and stabilise at the minimum support price of Rs 1,700 per 100 kg, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said on Monday.

He said no quantitative ceiling has been imposed on the mustard purchase programme.

The National Agricultural and Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) is the nodal agency designated by the central government to procure mustard and it has been undertaking the task in the light of a bumper crop that has led to a big fall in prices. Mustard is harvested from late-February to May.

"As such, no target has been fixed for mustard procurement under the price support scheme. As on Apr. 17, a quantity of 1 million tonne mustard has been procured by Nafed during the rabi 2005 season," Pawar said.

In reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, he said, Nafed had made adequate arrangements for procurement of mustard by arranging for gunny bags and booking of storage space.

He said a cash credit limit had been sanctioned by the Reserve Bank of India to enable mustard procurement by the Nafed.

The minister said, currently 525 mustard procurement centres are in operation, with the largest number, 265, in Rajasthan.