 "Chana dal")
The Centre on Tuesday said it has started procuring chana (gram) from farmers at a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for maintaining the buffer stock to check prices and meet the demand of those states which want to distribute under their welfare schemes.
Speaking to reporters, Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare said the agriculture ministry has indicated chana yields are intact and there is "no concern about production as of now."
Meanwhile, states have been directed to make sure traders, importers, and millers declare their stock position of pulses effective from April 15 in a bid to check hoarding and contain price rise, she said.
The Consumer Affairs Department has called a meeting on Wednesday to discuss with importers, traders, customs, and state officials on the issue of imported pulses lying at customs, she added.
The MSP for chana for the 2024-25 rabi marketing season is Rs 5,440 per quintal.
"With the increase in the arrival of chana crop, mandi prices have softened and reached the MSP level. We have just started the procurement operation," Khare said.
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Cooperatives Nafed and NCCF are undertaking chana procurement as part of the Price Stabilisation fund (PSF) scheme to maintain a pulses stock to be released in the market to check price rise.
Khare said the Centre is discussing with various state governments to streamline procurement and focusing on non-traditional pulses growing states like Jharkhand that are catching up in pulses output.
With demand for chana rising from state governments for distribution through their welfare schemes, the Secretary said now there is a strain on the buffer in terms of availability.
Earlier, hardly 3-4 states took chana from buffer stock for welfare schemes. Now, 16 state governments are taking buffer stock of chana to meet the nutritional security, she said, adding that four more states like Karnataka, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh have requested for chana.
State governments are lifting chana from the Centre under two schemes.
About 8 lakh tonne of raw chana procured by the agriculture ministry under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) has been purchased by state governments at a subsidised rate since October 2022. About 16.5 lakh tonne of raw chana procured under PSF has been released for sale of Bharat data and for state governments at a subsidised rate since July 2023, according to the Department.
Currently, the government is holding a buffer stock of 10 lakh tonne of raw chana procured under the PSF.
Asserting that there is no major concern about chana production, the Secretary said the agriculture ministry has indicated that the crop yields have not come down even though total chana output is pegged slightly lower at 121 lakh tonne for 2023-24 crop year (July-June), compared with 122 lakh tonne in the previous year.
The recent crop-cutting experiments undertaken in Gujarat indicate the chana yields are intact and arrivals are increasing in mandis leading to softening of prices to MSP level, she said.
The crop experiments are still underway in other states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
"Not a matter of concern now. Still, we are vigilant. We are keeping a close watch on availability and prices of chana and all other pulses so that farmers and consumers do not suffer," Khare said.
To prevent hoarding, the Secretary said the government has reintroduced the declaration of pulses stock by stakeholders from April 15.
Last year, the stock declaration by importers, millers, stockists, traders, and processors was imposed in June till December 2023.
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