Government procurement of pigeon pea continues in the producing states. Its procurement has reached close to 30 percent of the target. The central government has also extended the deadline for purchasing pigeon pea in Andhra Pradesh. The Central Government has approved procurement of tur, urad and lentil under Price Support Scheme (PSS) equal to 100 per cent of the state production for the procurement year 2024-25 to increase domestic production of pulses, incentivize farmers and reduce dependence on imports. The production of pigeon pea in the country is estimated to be 35.11 lakh tonnes in the year 2024-25, whereas it was 33.85 lakh tonnes in the year 2023-24. In 2024-25, the production of lentils is estimated to be 18.17 lakh tonnes and the production of gram is estimated to be 115.35 lakh tonnes.
How much pigeon pea has been procured by the government so far?
Last month, the central government had approved purchasing 13.22 lakh tonnes of pigeon pea under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) scheme. Procurement of pigeon pea at MSP continues through NAFED and NCCF in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana. In the procurement year 2024-25, till April 22, a total of 3.92 lakh metric tonnes of pigeon pea has been purchased in these states. Due to which 2,56,517 farmers of these states have benefited. Tur is also procured from pre-registered farmers on NAFED’s e-Samriddhi portal and NCCF’s e-Samyukti portal. Apart from arhar, the central government has also approved the government procurement of 9.40 lakh tonnes of lentils and 1.35 lakh tonnes of urad.
Pigeon pea purchase period extended in Andhra Pradesh
The Central Government has given big relief to the pigeon pea farmers of Andhra Pradesh. In the interest of farmers, the government has extended the procurement period in Andhra Pradesh by 30 days. Now pigeon pea can be purchased in Andhra Pradesh till May 22. Earlier, the government had extended the procurement period of pigeon pea in Karnataka by 30 days till May 1. The central government had announced in Budget 2025 that 100 per cent of the state’s production of tur, urad and lentil will be procured for the next four years till 2028-29 through central nodal agencies NAFED and NCCF to achieve self-sufficiency in pulses in the country.
