NAFED to procure groundnut at MSP from Oct 21: Gujarat Agriculture Minister

The state government has earlier announced that it will begin the procurement after Diwali. The change in dates has been made after representations were made by farmers.

The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) will begin procurement of groundnut in Gujarat from October 21, R C Faldu, state agriculture minister, said on Monday.

“From October 21, NAFED will begin procurement of groundnut based on the Minimum Support Price. This buying process will be held for 90 days as per the Government of India’s norms,” said the minister. Faldu said the registration process for the farmers will begin on October 1 and will go on till October 20. The Food and Civil Supplies department of the government will be the nodal agency for the procurement.

The state government has earlier announced that it will begin the procurement after Diwali. The change in dates has been made after representations were made by farmers. The Gujarat government’s first advance estimate has projected groundnut crop at an all time high of Rs 54.65 lakh tonne for Kharif 2020.

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The procurement will be done at a MSP of Rs 1,055 for 20 kg. The central government agency will be procuring the groundnuts at a time when farmers in the state have suffered extensive damage due to continuous rainfall this monsoon.

Crop loss survey over

R C Faldu, state agriculture minister, said that crops over an estimated 13 lakh hectares, would have got damaged this monsoon due to excessive rainfall. “So far, survey has been completed in 3 lakh hectares and I feel time of the survey will need to be extended,” said the minister. He said apart groundnut, the government will also buy pulses at MSP.

The government is looking to compensate farmers affected by the rainfall under the State Disaster Response Fund, as existing provisions of the newly launched Mukhyamantri Kisan Sahay Yojana does not cover any region. This Yojana was launched after the government scrapped the tenders for the crop insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).