• The government has approved procurement of 54,166 tonnes of moong from Haryana, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh at a Minimum Support Price (MSP), along with the procurement of 50,750 tonnes of groundnut from Uttar Pradesh.

• The procurement of the summer crops of 2025-26 will be undertaken under the central Price Support Scheme (PSS), which is activated when market rates fall below the MSP.

• Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan approved the proposal to purchase crops under PSS to protect farmers’ interests. 

• The government has permitted procurement of 100 per cent production of tur, urad and masur in 2024-25 under the PSS to incentivise farmers, enhance domestic pulse production and reduce import dependence. 

This initiative has been extended for another four years till 2028-29.

Price Support Scheme

• The government of India is implementing the integrated scheme Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA), which encompasses Price Support Scheme (PSS), Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS), Market Intervention Scheme (MIS), and Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF). 

• The overarching objective of this initiative is to ensure assured and remunerative prices for farmers' agricultural produce, thereby protecting their income and securing their livelihood against market fluctuations. 

• PSS is implemented as and when the market prices of notified pulses and oilseeds & copra fall below the notified MSP during peak harvesting period to provide the remunerative price to the farmers.

• Procurement under the PSS is undertaken by National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF). 

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)