Buffer stock of pulses crosses 10 lak MT, says government

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 9

For a first time India has created a buffer stock of 10 lakh MT of pulses through domestic procurement and imports.

Of this, five lakh tonne has been procured during ongoing kharif marketing season, noted a meeting of Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on prices and availability of select essential commodities held  on Friday under the chairmanship of Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs.

The government procurement intervention has helped farmers get remunerative prices for kharif pulses, said an official statement.

Meanwhile, the IMC directed procuring agencies to continue procurement operations for pulses at MSP plus bonus.  Procurement and price support would provide incentive to farmers to take up cultivation of pulses on larger scale, it added.

Notably, the decision to create a buffer stock was taken after pulses prices shot through the roof in 2015.