Centre OKs procurement of ‘masoor’ at MSP in state

Patna: Agriculture minister Ram Kripal Yadav said here on Tuesday that the Centre has cleared the state govt’s proposal for the procurement of ‘masoor’ pulse at the minimum support price (MSP) rate under the price support scheme (PSS) pertaining to the 2026 Rabi season.Prior to this, paddy and wheat were procured by the state govt at their MSP rates. Under the PSS, the Centre approves the procurement of notified crops at MSP rates if their market price is low.Yadav also said that while masoor is the third crop that has come under the cover of MSP in the state, as much as 32,000 metric tonne (MT) of this variety of pulse would be procured. The Centre has already fixed the MSP rate for masoor procurement at Rs 6,700 per quintal for the 2025–26 Rabi season.Thanking PM Narendra Modi and Union agriculture and farmer welfare minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for it, he said the state govt has been taking steps for the benefit of farmers to increase their income under the leadership of CM Nitish Kumar.Yadav said that to provide timely benefit to farmers, the state govt would establish procurement centres and facilitate registration of farmers, besides making arrangements for storage of masoor pulse and a foolproof mechanism for making payment to farmers against masoor procured.The purchase and procurement of masoor would begin from the date fixed by the govt and the time period for procurement is 60 days, while payment to the farmers concerned would be made within three days. “The entire process would be transparent and based on their Aadhaar numbers,” Yadav said, and also appealed to farmers to register themselves to benefit from the scheme.