More than two lakh farmers have already registered themselves to sell their groundnut in Gujarat in the State-aided procurement process at the minimum support price (MSP).
The registration process opened on October 1 and the procurement process will begin on October 21.
The State government’s first advance estimate has projected groundnut crop at an all time high of 54.65 lakh tonne for kharif 2020. Gujarat is the largest producer of the oil seed with almost 50% share of the production.
The procurement will be made at an MSP of ₹1,055 for 20 kg. The Central government agency will be procuring the groundnut at a time when farmers in the State have suffered extensive damage due to continuous rainfall this monsoon, which hugely affected the oil seed growing region Saurashtra.
“As on Monday evening, around 2.10 lakh farmers have enrolled in the procurement process,” said Civil Supply Secretary Mohammad Shahid. The Civil Supplies department is the nodal agency to facilitate the procurement.
Mr. Shahid said 4.7 lakh farmers had enrolled last year.
According to the sources, 25% of the stock will be procured by the Central government through the State civil supply department from the farmers.
