Centre Approves MSP Procurement for 5 Crops in Odisha: ₹1,428 Crore Boost for Farmers

Farmers in Odisha have been given an encouraging update—the Central Government has officially signed off on buying five major pulses and oilseeds at the Minimum Support Price (MSP). This isn’t just a policy tweak; it’s a real shift for a state that’s mostly focused on paddy all these years. After a virtual meeting between Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Odisha’s Deputy Chief Minister and Agriculture Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, the decision is finally in place. The goal is to give farmers a sense of financial security when they grow something other than rice.

The central government will handle procurement under the PM-AASHA scheme, with more than ₹1,428 crore set aside.

Here’s what they’re targeting:
– Urad (Black Gram): 1,19,387 tonnes
– Moong (Green Gram): 34,492 tonnes
– Groundnut: 20,219 tonnes
– Mustard Seed: 4,964 tonnes
– Sunflower: 2,210 tonnes

They’re planning a 90-day procurement window. To keep things clean and avoid the usual hassle, the state’s rolling out a Point of Sale (PoS) system for tracking and transparency. Union Minister Chouhan put a lot of emphasis on making sure there’s no room for middlemen this time—he wants the benefits to reach farmers directly. He even gave Odisha’s sunflower growers a shout-out, since that crop’s not doing so well elsewhere, and promised more scientific support to help expand sunflower fields and boost yields.

For farmers, especially those in rain-dependent or drought-hit parts of Odisha, this move meets a demand they’ve had for years—guaranteed prices for something beyond rice. With the MSP now covering pulses and oilseeds, crop diversity suddenly seems a lot more attractive. By protecting them from wild market prices, this could inject some much-needed stability and income into Odisha’s rural economy.