Gujarat has bought 10 lakh MT of groundnuts from 2.98 lakh farmers at the minimum support price (MSP), says Agriculture Minister Raghavji Patel. "Till now 2.98 lakh farmers have sold 10 lakh MT of groundnuts worth Rs 6,700 crore, a record," he said.
He added that the government is ensuring that all registered farmers get timely payment, 2.32 lakh farmers have got payment of Rs 5,172 crore for groundnuts and 17,000 farmers for soybeans Rs 210 crore.
"Over 51,400 metric tonnes of soybeans, valued at Rs 252 crore, have been procured from more than 20,500 farmers," he said.
Soybean purchase is being done at the support price of Rs 4,892 per quintal (Rs 978.40 per mann) which is much higher than the market rate so farmers are registering for the procurement programme.
"By February 8, the procurement process will be completed for all registered farmers across Gujarat," said Patel.
Agriculture sector of the state has got big benefit from the support price declared by the Central government as over 3.72 lakh farmers have registered for groundnut purchase programme.
Groundnut support price was fixed at Rs 6,783 per quintal (Rs 1,356.60 per mann) which has turned out to be a good price for farmers so they are selling their bumper crop without any hesitation.
Agriculture Minister said this year groundnut crop has reached a record 18.80 lakh hectares, 2.5 lakh hectares more than last year.
This increase in production is due to the support price announced before the sowing season so farmers could plan accordingly.
In 2023-2024 India exported 47 consignments of Gujarat origin groundnut kernels, 2% more than last year.
These exports were made by 10 Indian exporters to 21 buyers, top three importers were Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines who together accounted for 85% of total exports.
Gujarat accounts for 42% of India’s total groundnut production.
In 2017-2018 India exported 5.04 lakh tonnes of groundnuts worth Rs 3,386 crore.
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