Nagpur: Tur, the last hope for farmers in Vidarbha, has begun reaching the markets but the rates are far below levels profitable for farmers. According to initial trends, the yield is better than average but rates are ruling at as much as Rs1,000 below the minimum support price (MSP).
MSP is a threshold level set by government. If rates slip below it, government begins procurement at MSP which helps increase the open market rates. Apart from cotton and soyabean, tur is the third major crop grown by the farmers here.
Cotton has taken a hit due to pink bollworm and soyabean rates too had slipped below the MSP of Rs2850 a quintal only to rebound recently. Farmers say a majority of the harvest has been sold before the rates improved. Now all hopes were being pinned on tur.
Tur, which is harvested from mid-January onwards, is fetching around Rs4,000 to 4,500 per quintal as against the MSP of Rs5450. The state government is planning to start procurement next month and farmers have to start getting registered online for it.
Both farmers and traders are wary of government procurement. Last year's experience, when the procurement was delayed due to a huge rush, has left farmers apprehensive. Traders said the government was already sitting on huge stocks of tur procured at MSP last year. That will have to be offloaded to clear space for the fresh purchases. If government does that, it would bring down the rates further, traders said.
It is not tur alone, rates of pulses across the board are ruling below MSP, they said. Chana (chickpea) is worse. "This crop is also grown in the region during the Rabi season and is harvested in mid-March. Rates are ruling below MSP and there was no mechanism in place for government procurement," said Pratap Motwani, secretary of Itwari Grain and Seeds Merchants Association.
Chana is processed in the mills to make chana dal, one of the largely consumed variety of pulses. Motwani has also blamed trading in commodity exchanges for the slump in chana rates. Traders have taken sell positions though there is not as much stock available physically, he said. Fresh domestic crop of chana will be reaching markets by March. This will reduce prices. There is a glut due to huge imports from Australia. A month ago, government imposed 30% customs duty on chana, yet it has failed to curb imports, said Motwani
"The government move to raise import duty and ease exports has not helped in supporting the rates. If the government has to start procurement it will have to clear the old stock of tur first as tur is a perishable commodity," said Arpit Jain of Himalaya Agro Impex, a trading company here.
"Madhya Pradesh government's policy to pay the difference of average market price and MSP to farmers has led to a slump elsewhere. The open market rates of several commodities have slipped to half the MSP in the state. Yet, farmers are easily accepting the price as the difference is being paid by the state government. This has pulled the rates down in other states too where the farmers are not getting any compensation," said Jain.
Srikant Deshpande, a farmer from Chandur Railway in Amravati, said online registrations for MSP purchase have begun in his area, There is a waiting period of 15 to 20 days. The waiting may increase as the arrivals increase, he said.
