After six years, mustard fetches rates above MSP

Tribune News Service

Deepender Deswal

Hisar/Bhiwani, March 1

After nearly six years, market rates of mustard have gone higher than the minimum support price (MSP) of the Centre, indicating better prices for mustard-growing farmers in the region.

Traders say that the Ukraine-Russia war is having an impact on imports, pushing up the price of oil.

The mustard-growing farmers in the region are enthused. Though the procurement for the rabi season by government agencies is yet to start, private purchasers have chipped in with above-MSP offers to the farmers for their produce.

The farmers said that they are being approached by arhtiyas to sell the produce to them directly.

Pawan Garg, a trader in Hisar grain market and former president of the Anaj Mandi Association, said that some of the farmers had brought the mustard crop to the mandi.

“Mustard is fetching a price of Rs 6,500 per quintal on an average. The market rate is likely to remain much above Rs 6,000 per quintal and it can go as high as Rs 7,000,” he said.

A trader in Bhiwani grain market too maintained that one stock of mustard was sold for Rs 6,800 yesterday. Bhiwani has about 88,000 acres under mustard crop this year.

Though the Central government MSP is fixed at Rs 5,200 per quintal this season, the traders maintained that government agencies are unlikely to make any purchase due to above-MSP prices.

Sahib Ram, district marketing enforcement officer (DMEO), Hisar, said that some stock had arrived in the mandi but it is highly unlikely that farmers would go to government agencies for selling their produce.

Dr Ram Kumar, agriculture scientist, stated that this is for the first time since 2016 that the rates of the mustard produce had crossed the MSP. “We had to put pressure on the government to purchase the mustard crop when the farmers were resorting to distress sale in 2016-17. Though the state government accepted the farmers’ demand, it was getting tough for farmers to sell the produce to government agencies due to several conditions and long queues,” he stated.

Dr Kumar said that the scenario changed recently when the price of palm oil went up internationally. “India has to import 60 per cent of edible oil from other countries. However, the rise in prices bodes well for farmers who are expected to get good rates this rabi season,” he said.

A farmer from Surpura village in Bhiwani district, Sajjan Lakhlan, said that traders are already contacting them even when they are yet to harvest the mustard crop. “Harvesting has been delayed by a couple of days due to the recent rain. But it will pick up in a week’s time,” he added.

Imports hit

Traders say that the Ukraine-Russia war is having an impact on imports, pushing up the price of oil.

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