In February 2025, Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) has approved the extension of time period for procurement of Groundnut in Gujarat and Karnataka by 6 days and 25 days, respectively beyond the normal procurement period of 90 days in the interest of farmers of the state.
- The Government of India (GoI) also extended the time period for procurement of soyabean in Maharashtra by 24 days and Telangana by 15 days.
Other Key Announcements:
i.The Government of India (GoI) has approved the procurement of Soyabean under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) in states like: Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Telangana for Kharif 2024-25.
- As of February 9 2025, a total quantity of 19.99 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) of Soyabean has been procured, benefitting over 8.46 lakh farmers.
ii.Similarly, GoI has approved the procurement of Groundnut under the PSS in states like: Andhra Pradesh (AP), Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Rajasthan for Kharif 2024-25.
- As of February 9 2025, a total quantity of 15.73 LMT of Groundnut has been procured, benefitting over 4.75 lakh farmers.
iii.GoI has permitted the procurement of Tur, Urad, and Masur under PSS equivalent to 100% of the production of the state for the procurement year 2024-25. This move aims to incentivize the farmers contributing to improvement of domestic production of pulses and to reduce the dependence on imports.
- It has also made an announcement in the Union Budget for Financial Year 2025-26 (FY26) that the procurement of Tur, Urad, and Masur maximum 100% of the production of the state will be continued for another 4 years through Central Nodal Agencies (CNAs).
iv.GoI has approved the continuation of the integrated Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) scheme during the 15th Finance Commission (FC) cycle up to 2025-26.
About PM AASHA:
i.It is an umbrella scheme launched in 2018, which aims to provide remunerative prices to farmers and to control price instability of essential commodities for consumers. MoA&FW acts as nodal agency for the scheme.
ii.The scheme comprises 4 key components: Price Support Scheme (PSS), Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS), Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) and Price Stabilisation Funds (PSF).
- Components like: PSS, PDPS and MIS are administered by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (DA&FW),MoA &FW , whereas component PSF is administered by Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution(MoCAF&PD).
iii.The procurement of the notified Pulses, Oilseeds, and Copra under the PSS, conforming to the prescribed Fair Average Quality (FAQ) is administered by the CNAs at the MSP directly from the pre-registered farmers through the state level agencies.
Note: In October 2024, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi approved the continuation of PM-AASHA scheme with financial outlay of Rs 35,000 crore during the 15th FC cycle up to 2025-26.
