Bhubaneswar: The Centre has approved procurement of five major crops from Odisha at the minimum support price (MSP), with the total MSP outlay set to exceed Rs 1,428.3 crore.Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced the decision on Wednesday after a virtual meeting with deputy chief minister KV Singh Deo, who also holds the agriculture portfolio in Odisha.The approved crops are moong, urad, groundnut, sunflower and mustard. Chouhan said the Centre would ensure full support to Odisha’s farmers, while stressing that procurement must be transparent, honest and carried out directly from farmers.He said MSP benefits should reach farmers on time through a transparent system so that actual producers receive direct relief. During the meeting, he reviewed Odisha’s procurement demands for agricultural produce.The Centre approved procurement of 34,492 metric tonnes of moong at an MSP value of Rs 302.4 crore. It also cleared 1.19 lakh metric tonnes of urad worth Rs 931.2 crore and 20,219 metric tonnes of groundnut valued at Rs 146.8 crore.Approval was also granted for procurement of 2,210 metric tonnes of sunflower with an MSP value of Rs 17.06 crore, and 4,964 metric tonnes of mustard worth Rs 30.77 crore.Official sources said the procurement will be undertaken under the Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan for a 90-day period. The Odisha govt is already working on a point-of-sale-based procurement system.Chouhan welcomed the continued cultivation of sunflower in Odisha, noting that the crop was disappearing from many areas. He said the Centre would extend all possible support to expand sunflower acreage and production in the state, including scientific and technical assistance if required.He also called for continuous monitoring of the procurement system to prevent middlemen from benefiting and to ensure that only genuine farmers are able to sell their produce at MSP.
