Area
India
Commodity Group
Oilseeds, oils and meals
Commodity
Oilseeds
Date
01/03/2018
Policy Category
Production
Policy Instrument
Production support / public procurement & distribution
Description
Approved, for a five-year period, a rise in the volume of oilseeds (and pulses) that state governments can procure under the federal Price Support Scheme.
Notes
In response to price falls below the MSP level, Indias cabinet has approved a doubling in the procurement of oilseeds (and pulses) by state governments. More specifically, the amount state agencies are allowed to guarantee for procurement operations has been raised to INR 190 billion (USD 2.9 billion), for a five-year period ending in 2021/22. Procurement operations will continue to be handled by designated cooperatives under the existing Price Support Scheme (PSS), which is implemented at the request of concerned state governments. The move is aimed at protecting farmers from making distress sales immediately after harvest, when market prices tend to plunge. Apart from providing remunerative prices to farmers, Indias PPS is also meant to safeguard the interests of consumers, by making products available at reasonable prices and with low costs of intermediation.
