Mumbai: Faced with the ongoing tur dal procurement crisis in the State, the Central government has extended the date for the government to purchase tur from farmers at Minimum Support Price (MSP) from NAFED centres till May 31. The decision was taken after a meeting between Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh in New Delhi.
The Centre has allowed the State government to procure one lakh tonne of tur and given in-principle approval to purchase another one lakh tonne from farmers. Tur production in Maharashtra went up manifold In 2016-17 from 4.44 lakh tonne in 2015-16 to 20.35 lakh tonne in 2016-17. As per the government estimate, total purchase through its agencies is only around four lakh tonne, and approximately 16 lakh tonne is yet to be bought. The government has fixed the MSP at 5,050 per quintal and has twice extended the deadline for purchase. The Union government, though, had refused to extend the deadline beyond April 22.
Even as the State government claims to have procured around four lakh tonne Tur at MSP through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) centres, nearly five lakh tonne of tur has been sold at rates lesser than MSP through the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMC).
