The Ministry of Cooperation has launched the initiative to incentivize production of pulses (tur, masur and urad) to reduce dependency on imports, and production of maize to be used for production of ethanol for meeting the goal of Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP). National Cooperative Consumer Federation (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) are the central nodal agencies under this initiative, and have developed Esamyukti (NCCF) and Esamridhi (NAFED) portals respectively, for registration of farmers through cooperatives.
On 27th November 2024, Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha stated, for pre-registered farmers of tur, urad and masur pulses, the Government has guaranteed to procure 100% of the produce at Minimum Support Price (MSP). However, if market prices exceed the MSP, farmers are free to sell their produce in the open market for higher profits. Similarly, both the agencies guarantee 100% procurement of maize from pre-registered farmers throughout all three seasons – Kharif, Zaid, and Rabi, thus ensuring a steady supply of maize to ethanol distilleries and at the same time also encouraging farmers to cultivate maize. As of 27th November, 15,38,704 farmers have already registered on the Esamyukti.in portal of NCCF and 17,64,130 on the Esamridhi portal of NAFED.
This initiative by the NCCF and NAFED is expected to provide significant relief and instill confidence among farmers across the country.
(Source: PIB)
