The pace of procurement of gram (chana) under the price support scheme for rabi 2022-23 season has currently gathered momentum. Total purchases are close to 8.5 lakh tonnes, as of Thursday.

As per the Nafed data, the value of the total chana procured, so far, at the minimum support price of ₹5,335 per quintal is ₹4,534 crore. The procurement by government agencies is currently being carried out in eight States.

Maharashtra tops the list of States from where chana is procured. Total purchases from Maharashtra stood at over 3.81 lakh tonnes (lt) as of April 13. The total value of the chana purchased from Maharashtra is about ₹2,033 crore. Purchases from Gujarat is over 1.74 lt and the value exceeds ₹933 crore.

Procurement from Madhya Pradesh, the largest producing State for the pulses variety, is 1.34 lt valued at ₹718 crore. Similarly in Karnataka, the quantity procured is 57,161 tonnes valued at ₹304 crore, followed by Telangana at 50,238 tonnes valued at ₹268 crore. Chana purchases from Andhra Pradesh were 49,477 tonnes valued at ₹263 crore.

4.34 lakh growers benefit

In Rajasthan, the quantity procured by the government agencies stood at 1,862 tonnes, valued at ₹9.94 crore, while in Uttar Pradesh, the procured quantity is about 376 tonnes valued at ₹2.01 crore.

The pace of procurement in Rajasthan and UP is rather sluggish, when compared to other states. According to Nafed, a total of over 4.34 lakh farmers have benefited so far from the chana procurement process across the country.

As per the Ministry of Agriculture’s second advance estimate, the production of gram for 2022-23 is 136.32 lt, ahead of the targeted 135 lt. Last year, the production of gram stood at 135.44 lt. Trade sources said the Government’s production estimates are on the higher side.

Rahul Chauhan of IGrain India said though the start of procurement initially in States such as Maharashtra and Telangana had lent some support to the prices, heavy arrivals in the recent days in the key producing States of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have exerted pressure on the prices. As a result, chana continues to rule below the MSP.

As per the Agmarknet data, the modal price (rates at which most trades take place) of chana across various mandis in MP ranged was ₹4,400-4,800 on Thursday. A similar trend was observed in the various mandis of Rajasthan.

The previous year’s stock with the government is estimated to be around 14 lt. “Considering the production this year, the trend in market arrivals, and the procurement window for about three months starting from April 1 in MP, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, the total purchases this year could exceed last year’s 25.2 lt,” Chauhan said.

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