Madhya Pradesh cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to request the Centre for immediate procurement of soyabean at its minimum support price of ₹4,892 per quintal, a decision seen as an attempt by the State government to counter the Opposition Congress party which has launched a Kisan Nyay Yatra alleging among other things the State’s failure to protect farmers.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav is likely to submit the request for procurement when he meets his predecessor and current Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday in Delhi to get the approval at the earliest, sources said.

“A proposal has been sent to the Union Government regarding soyabean procurement at the support price of ₹4,892 per quintal,” said Sanjay Saxena, spokesman of MP government told business line.

Earlier in the day, Chouhan said the Centre has already cleared proposals of three States, including Maharashtra, and is ready to consider Madhya Pradesh’s proposal on priority, once received.

‘Advance procurement date’

The soyabean production in MP is good this year, but farmers have not been getting the MSP for which the Centre’s intervention is needed, officials said. There should be arrangements made earlier so that whenever crop arrives, the procurement should begin if prices are lower than MSP, instead of waiting for a formal letter from the State government, officials said. Secondly, the starting date of procurement of soyabean should be advanced to September 1 and not October 1, they said.

The average price of soyabean in mandis (agriculture market yards) in M.P. was ₹4,423/quintal, in Maharashtra was ₹4,408/quintal, in Karnataka ₹4,331/quintal, in Rajasthan ₹4,382/quintal and in Telangana ₹4,437/quintal during first 10 days of this month.

Considering that 48,175 tonnes of soyabean have arrived in mandis during September 1-10 in MP, the farmers have lost over ₹22 crore by selling their crop at ₹469/quintal lower than MSP.

Chouhan, speaking to reporters earlier in the day, said the Centre is committed to purchasing soybean at the MSP. The Centre has already approved soyabean procurement at MSP in Maharashtra, Telangana and Karnataka under the price support scheme (PSS).

Meanwhile, state Congress president Jitu Patwari kicked off the Kisan Nyay Yatra from Mandsaur and other districts on Tuesday to protest against the State government for not fulfilling the promises it made to farmers. He questioned if MSP on soyabean was given for Maharashtra, why not in Madhya Pradesh.

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