The government has planned to buy 1.5 million tonne (MT) of the oilseed from Rajasthani farmers, the country’s largest producer, as mandi prices have decreased for mustard below the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 5,450/quintal after staying significantly above the threshold for over two years.

According to sources, the Rajasthan State Cooperative Marketing Federation (Rajfed) would likely start purchasing mustard at MSP  as part of the agricultural ministry’s price support programme for oilseeds. After a two-year hiatus, the procurement will resume. Rajfed bought 0.34 MT of mustard in 2020 vs a target of 1 MT.

The Haryana State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation (Hafed) will begin entering the mandis on Wednesday with the purpose of making a commercial purchase of roughly 20,000 tonnes of mustard at the MSP.

 

With the likelihood of a strong harvest, mustard prices at Bharatpur (Rajasthan), the centre of the oilseed trade, are currently between Rs 100 and Rs 150 per quintal below the MSP. These costs are the lowest in the past two years. In November of last year, the mandis were selling for about Rs 7,500 per quintal.

An official stated that “government agency procurement is likely to push mandi prices above MSP.” Farmers are currently harvesting mustard, and by the end of this month, the oilseed variety will begin to arrive at the mandi in huge quantities.

According to Roop Singh, CEO, Uttan Mustard Producers Company, an FPO based in Astavan village (Bharatpur), farmers have received fair prices that are generally higher than MSP over the past two years.

 

In the crop year 2022–2023, the agricultural ministry expects mustard seed production to reach a record 12.8 MT (July–June). The current rabi season’s mustard planting area has been estimated at a record 9.8 million hectares (MH), which is 64% greater than the 6.4 MH average seeded area over the previous five years. The mustard-sown areas in the 2021–22 season were 9.1 MH.

Rajasthan (40%), Madhya Pradesh (14%), Uttar Pradesh (9%), and Haryana (7%), which together account for 70% of the population,