Widening cost gulf

everyday skirmishes between farmers and government officials,” says Kedar Sirohi, a farmer from Harda district. “The market is offering per tonne for the best quality of moong, which is way below the Minimum Support Price (msp) of per tonne,” he adds.

In Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, the market price for moong has crashed to below per tonne. “We switched to large-scale pulses farming because of the rising prices and government assurances, but when the time came to reap the harvest, the market tanked,” says Asuram, a farmer from Bikaner district, Rajasthan. Government estimates reveal that it has procured only 3,300 tonnes from 330 farmers in 200 centres in Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and MP—that is about only 16.5 tonnes from each centre.

Market prices MSP

The gap between the consumer and wholesale prices of pulses has continued to widen despite increase in production, including buffer stocks from imports

tur dal