ROURKELA: With the minimum support price (MSP) of arhar dal continuing to be way less than the open market price, a section of farmers of Sundargarh district, lacking market link, may replace farming the popular pulses with other crops in the district during the kharif season.
The trend was observed during the last Kharif as well since farmers refrained from selling their produce to the government. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs recently revised the MSP for arhar dal from Rs 66 to Rs 70 per kg but the retail market price of the dal ranges from Rs 120 to Rs 160 per kg.
Taking advantage of the low MSP for arhar, private traders and middlemen are procuring the dal directly from the farmers at higher prices which leaves no scope for procurement by the government. A senior agriculture officer claimed last year the Odisha State Co-operative Marketing Federation Ltd (MARKFED) was entrusted to procure arhar at an MSP of Rs 66 per kg but procurement during that time was reportedly nil.
“The demand for arhar continues to be high which ultimately benefits farmers but since they lack information regarding its current market price, they get influenced and agree to sell their produce to the private traders at a much lesser price,” he added.
According to information, the situation is bad for small and marginal farmers who do not have direct market access and are more inclined to replace cultivating arhar with other crops in the upcoming kharif season.
In the 2021 kharif season, arhar was grown on over 7,229 hectare of land which increased to 9,500 ha in the next year. While total pulses in 2022 were reportedly grown on over 39,400 ha of land, reliable sources said in actuality, the production area was much less. In-charge chief district agriculture officer (CDAO) Harihar Naik said arhar production in the district would not be affected by the low MSP.
“The Agriculture department is encouraging farmers with incentives and sensitising them to the possibility of getting higher prices from the open market. Under the demonstration programme, around 5,000 kits with four kg of arhar seeds in each kit, are getting distributed to farmers for covering 1,000 ha land,” he added.
Meanwhile, paddy-bund arhar kits with each kit having one kg are being provided to farmers for sowing, he further informed adding, the total arhar production area in the ongoing year would remain untouched.
