Agri Minister asks states to encourage farmers to register on e-Samridhi portal to avail procurement benefits

Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan reiterated the government’s committed to procure major pulses – tur, urad and masur at Minimum Support Prices (MSP) on Friday during a meeting with agriculture ministers of various states.

He urged the state governments to encourage more and more farmers to register on e-Samridhi portal so that they can avail the facility of assured procurement.

The e-Samridhi portal which was launched last year through National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited (NCCF) for registration of farmers and government is committed to procure these pulses at MSP for farmers registered on the portal.

The minister requested the state governments to utilize the fallow lands which are available for pulses after the rice crop is harvested.

The ongoing kharif season is the main season for sowing of tur and urad which have seen high inflation for the last few months owing to lower productivity prompting the government to increase import of the two pulses.

The deficiency in rainfall in several parts of the country despite the timely arrival of monsoon has caused concerns about the timely sowing of pulses.The meeting was called realizing the necessity for immediate attention to increase the pulses production in the country.