Farmers are feeling some relief
Assam government has officially announced to procure mustard seeds for Rabi season. In this Rabi season, the 2023 government has approved to procure 45.8 Million Tonnes of mustard seeds under PSS. Officials decided to buy mustard seeds at MSP (Minimum Support Prices), which will give good prices to farmers because market rates are much lesser.
The MSP of mustard seeds is USD 0.66 per kg while the market prices are only USD 0,54 – 0,58 per kg. The price has fallen much below the MSP at the time of harvesting, the farmers are reluctant to sell at such low prices and are greatly discouraged. With the initiative of govt. to buy mustard at MSP, farmers are now encouraged.
Procurement set-up
The procurement will be done through Assam State Agricultural Board and Assam Food and Civil Supplies Corporation as the State Level Agencies and NAFED as the Central Agency.
The procurement will be done through mainly two centers,
1. Raha (a small town in Nagaon district, Assam),
2. Amingaon (in the district headquarter of Kamrup-Rural, Assam) and nine other centers. Many more such centers will be operationalized in a phased manner by the government.
Procurement period & quality description
The chief minister of Assam “Himanta Biswa Sarma” mentioned that the procurement period will be from the 29th of May to the 26th of August, 2023.
He also said that “Individual farmers can sell up to 0,25 kg of their Fair Average Quality produce per day. Moisture content must be less than 8% and foreign matter must be less than 2%. Additional quantities can be sold on consecutive days. Farmers will receive MSP within 3 working days from the date of sale directly in their bank accounts.”
Procedure of sale
Farmers are encouraged to register themselves through e- Samriddhi portal for easy clearance of stock. He added that agriculture development officials to assist in issuing necessary farmer certificates. This exercise will generate additional income of approximately USD 30 Million for the farmers and will give a significant boost to the state’s economy.”