GUWAHATI: The last date for the procurement of mustard seeds from the state farmers at the MSP (minimum support price) of Rs. 5,450 per quintal expired on August 26, 2023, after procuring only 8.67 percent of the target that the government had set.
The mustard seed procurement target of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his government was 30,044 metric tonnes (MT) during Rabi 2023 by August 26, 2023. The State Government had entrusted two agencies—Assam Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd. (AFCSCL) and the Assam State Agricultural Marketing Board (ASAMB)—to procure mustard seeds from the farmers of the state. However, the two agencies together could procure only 2,606 MT of mustard seeds by the deadline of August 26.
The government set a procurement target of 20,044 MT for the AFCSCL and 10,000 MT for the ASAMB. However, the AFCSCL could procure only 1,199 MT and the ASAMB only 907 MT during Rabi 2023. Only 768 farmers sold mustard seeds to the two agencies: 443 farmers sold the commodity to the AFCSCL and 325 farmers to the ASAMB.
The initial decision of the government was to use the 92 existing PPCs (Paddy Procurement Centres) for the procurement of mustard seeds, but the Agriculture Department notified only 71 PCCs for the procurement of mustard seed. Of the 71 PPCs, 62 were for the AFCSCL, and the remaining nine were for the ASAMB. However, at the time of procurement, the department opened only 40 PPCs—32 for the AFCSCL and eight for the ASAMB—which led to a meagre procurement of mustard seeds from the state farmers.
Speaking to The Sentinel, AFCSCL vice chairman Dewan Dhrubajyoti Moral said, “Though the State Government took the decision for the procurement of mustard seeds from the state farmers, we have to follow the SOP (standard operating procedure) prepared by the Central Government’s nodal department for the purpose. According to the SOP, the moisture content of mustard seed should not exceed 8 percent, but due to the humid conditions in Assam, the moisture content remains higher than the permissible level of 8 percent. It is 11–14 percent in the state, and that prevents us from procuring more mustard seeds. We have written letters to the centre asking them to allow us to procure mustard seeds with moisture content as high as 11 percent. We have also written a letter to the Centre through the State Government to extend the deadline for the procurement of mustard seeds in Assam till September 15.
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