Ceiling for procurement of Tur, Urad & Masur removed to ensure enhanced production

The decision to remove the ceiling for procurement of these pulses by the government at remunerative prices, is expected to motivate the farmers to enhance sowing area of these pulses in the upcoming Kharif and Rabi sowing seasons.

In order to boost domestic production, the Government of India has removed ceiling for procurement of Tur, Urad and Masur under Price Support Scheme (PSS) for 2023-24. Now, farmers are free to sell any amount of their produce of Tur, Urad and Masur under PSS this year. This decision is expected to increase the sowing area of these pulses during the upcoming Kharif and Rabi season. At the same time, Department of Consumer Affairs has also directed the state governments to ensure strict enforcement of stock limits on Tur and Urad and monitor their prices in the market.

This is considered to be a significant step towards enhancing domestic production of pulses. The Centre has removed the procurement ceilings of 40% for tur, urad and masur under Price Support Scheme. After this decision, the procurement of these pulses from farmers at MSP without ceilings, is ensured.

The decision to remove the ceiling for procurement of these pulses by the government at remunerative prices, is also expected to motivate the farmers to enhance sowing area of these pulses in the upcoming Kharif and Rabi sowing seasons. In this way, we may expect the the production.

The government had on 2nd June, 2023 imposed stock limits on tur and urad by invoking the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 in order to prevent hoarding and unscrupulous speculation. That action was also intended to improve affordability to the consumers.

The stock limits have been made applicable to wholesalers, retailers, big chain retailers, millers and importers. It has also been made mandatory for these entities to declare the stock position on the portal (https://fcainfoweb.nic.in/psp) of Department of Consumer Affairs.

In a follow up action to the stock limits imposed on tur and urad, the Department of Consumer Affairs has also directed the state governments to ensure strict enforcement of the limits in their respective states.

As part of enforcement, the states have also been asked to monitor prices and stocks position by verifying with various warehouse operators. Parallelly, the department has also asked Central Warehousing Corporation and State Warehousing Corporations (SWCs) to provide the details pertaining to tur and urad held in their warehouses.