The State government has announced an additional ₹450 for a quintal of red gram along with the minimum support price of ₹7,550 announced by the Central government which will round off the MSP for toor growers to ₹8,000 a quintal.
Agriculture Marketing Minister Shivanand Patil said in a note on Sunday that the Finance Department had given the approval for the additional ₹450 to be given to farmers. The State government will spend about ₹140 crore towards the additional amount announced, he added.
Stating that farmers had complained that the Centre’s MSP was less and had urged the State to increase the MSP, the Minister said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah agreed to provide the additional amount after his attention was drawn to the demand placed by the farmers.
He said procurement of red gram had commenced in Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Bidar, Yadgir, Raichur, Bagalkot, Ballari, Koppal, Belagavi, Chitradurga, Chickballapur, and Kolar districts. Till now, he pointed out, red gram was being procured at ₹5,800 a quintal.
Meanwhile, the note said the last date for the procurement of groundnut at MSP had been extended till February 15 since many farmers who had already registered had not been able to sell the commodity.
Published – February 09, 2025 08:34 pm IST