Govt approves procurement of pulses, oilseeds in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat

By Vijay C Roy

Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has approved the procurement of major pulses and oilseeds worth ₹13,890.60 crore in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat for the 2025-26 kharif season. The move is aimed at ensuring better prices for farmers and protect them from any crash in the prices of lentils.

Chouhan approved 100% procurement of urad (black lentil) and tur (pigeon pea) from farmers, while also approving the purchase of moong (green gram), sesame and groundnut in Uttar Pradesh, and soybean, moong, and groundnut in Gujarat.

For Uttar Pradesh, Chouhan approved 100% procurement of 227,000 tonnes of urad worth ₹1,777.30 crore, 114,000 tonnes of tur worth ₹910.24 crore, and 1,983 tonnes of moong worth ₹17.38 crore. The minister also sanctioned the procurement of 30,410 metric tonnes of sesame worth ₹299.42 crore and 99,438 metric tonnes of groundnut worth ₹722.22 crore.

For Gujarat, Chouhan approved the procurement of 47,780 metric tonnes of urad, valued at ₹372.68 crore, and 110,000 tonnes of soybean worth ₹585.57 crore. He also approved the procurement of 1.26 million tonnes of groundnut worth ₹9,167.08 crore, and 4,415 metric tonnes of moong worth ₹38.71 crore.

Sowing areas

For the 2025-26 kharif season, the total sowing area for pulses increased by 0.75% from 2024-25, driven by a favourable monsoon and the government’s focus on increasing the production of pulses. As of 19 September, the urad sowing area increased by 6.6% to 2.40 million hectares. The sowing areas for tur and moong registered decreased by 0.50% to 4.6 million hectares and 3.48 million hectares, respectively, while that of other pulses increased 2.1% to 446,000 hectares.

Among oilseeds, the groundnut sowing area increased by 0.74% to 4.81 million hectares in the current kharif season. The soybean sowing area was about 12 million hectares compared to 12.6 million hectares in 2024-25, a decline of 4.6%.

At a virtual meeting attended by Uttar Pradesh agriculture minister Surya Pratap Shahi and Gujarat agriculture minister Raghavji Patel, Chouhan said the procurement process must be transparent, digital, and smooth. The agriculture ministers of both states assured him that procurement would be carried out through digital portals with biometric authentication and point-of-sale machines – about 350 in UP and 400 in Gujarat.

Letters have been sent to the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) and the National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) for pre-registration of farmers, to ensure that only registered farmers can sell their crops at the minimum support price. The entire procurement process will be carried out digitally through the e-Samriddhi and e-Samyukti portals, which enable direct payments into farmers’ bank accounts.

Chouhan also said the approved quantities may be revised, if required, after the first advance estimates of kharif 2025-26 are released so that farmers derive the maximum benefit.

This article has been republished from The Mint.