Rajasthan asks Nafed to shift mustard stocks

Rajasthan government has asked The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) to shift around 12.5 lakh tonne mustard stocks to other states to make space for the next crop. The harvest starts from mid-March onwards, said a senior government official.

"The state government has called for shifting of stocks as it wants Nafed to procure more next marketing season, starting April," said the official after a meeting on Saturday.

The next mustard crop is likely to be better than last year. According to the state government, the state's mustard output in current rabi (October-March) will be about 40 lakh tonne, compared with 35 lakh tonne last rabi.

Thus, the state government has asked Nafed to procure about 20 lakh tonne in the next marketing season (April-March), compared with 14 lakh tonne in the current season.

The state government is keen to take maximum benefit from the Centre's decision to raise the minimum support price for the current rabi by Rs 15. After this raise the minimum support price will be Rs 1,715 per 100 kg. The state has also given relief in purchase tax from the current 4 per cent to 1 per cent till March 15.

At present, the available space in the state can accommodate about 1.5 tonne of grain and the state government is keen to make space for next crop.

The federation has also started moving stock to Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. "We have moved two rakes, of 2,000 tonne mustard last fortnight. We will continue the process as much as possible," said a Nafed official.

"We are in talks with the Central Warehousing Corporation who have space for about 6 lakh tonne grains. We may use that space," the official added.

The federation is currently holding 18.66 lakh tonne, across states, after procuring about 20.91 lakh tonne, at the minimum support price of Rs 1,700 per 100 kg under the Centre's price support system.

At present, the spot market price of the commodity is about Rs 1,570-1,600 per 100 kg and Nafed is selling about 3,000 tonne mustard via daily tenders.