Govt gears up for procurement of pulses, oilseeds across 100 mandis

The government is set to begin procurement of kharif pulses and oilseeds for the 2025-26 marketing season across more than 100 mandis. Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi today reviewed the arrangements and directed officials to ensure smooth and hassle-free operations for farmers.

“The procurement process must be timely, with adequate arrangements for storage facilities and availability of gunny bags at the mandis,” Rastogi said.

The state government has drawn up crop-wise procurement schedules. Moong will be procured from September 23 to November 15 at 38 mandis. Procurement of arhar and urad will take place in December at 22 and 10 mandis, respectively. Groundnut procurement will be held between November 1 and December 31 at seven mandis, while til (sesame) procurement is slated for December at 27 mandis. Soybean and nigerseed will be procured in October-November at seven and two mandis, respectively.

On the production front, Principal Secretary (Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare) Pankaj Agarwal reported significant gains. “The area under moong has expanded from 1.09 lakh acres in 2024-25 to 1.47 lakh acres in 2025-26, with yields rising from 300-400 kg per acre. As a result, production is expected to jump from 32,715 metric tonnes to 58,717 metric tonnes,” he said.

Arhar and urad have also recorded modest improvements in acreage and yield. Til cultivation has seen the sharpest expansion, more than doubling from 800 acres to 2,116 acres, with output projected at 446 metric tonnes.