To promote crop diversification, Chhattisgarh govt to procure pulses at MSP

To propel farmers to take pulse crops, the Chhattisgarh government has decided to procure ‘arhar’, ‘urad’ and ‘moong’ at minimum support price (MSP) in the current kharif marketing season 2022-23.

While farmers will get Rs 6,600 for a quintal of ‘arhar’ (pigeon pea), ‘urad’ (black gram), those selling ‘moong’ (green gram) to the government society will be entitled to Rs 7,755 a quintal as MSP. State-run Chhattisgarh State Cooperative Marketing Federation (Markfed) will be the nodal agency for the procurement of pulses at support price.

“There has been a constant decrease in the acreage of pulse crops in the state and hence the state government is taking measures to convince the farmers to diversify from paddy,” Chhattisgarh’s Agriculture Minister Ravindra Choubey said.

The decision to procure pulses at the MSP is part of the measures, he said, adding that the initiative will also increase farmers’ income.

According to the 2022-23 kharif plan, the acreage of pulse crops has been increased from previous year’s 277,330 hectare to 448,180 hectare, a jump of about 62 per cent. The pulses output has been targeted at 232,000 tonnes, an increase of 67.51 per cent compared to the revised estimate of the previous season. In the kharif season 2021-22, the state has procured 139,040 tonnes of pulses.

The state government has estimated a productivity of 520 kg a hectare as against last year’s 501 kg. The department of agriculture has issued detailed guidelines to all divisional commissioners, collectors, Markfed regional offices and Mandi Board for procurement of pulses at MSP in the state, a state government spokesperson said.

The procurement of urad and moong will be taken up from October 17, 2022 to December 16, 2022 while farmers can sell their arhar yield from March 13, 2023 to May 12, 2023.