Sunil Kumar Singh, Additional Managing Director of NAFED, said capacity constraints will not hinder procurement operations.
NAFED has been closely monitoring the soybean market since the initial arrivals, expecting a potential price decline below ₹4,892 per quintal. This posed a challenge as there had been no major procurement operation for soybean in the past decade.
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To address this, procurement centers were activated well in advance. The central government had kept the states on alert, and even the states producing soybean were quite efficient in organising and selecting the centres, Singh explained.
Through proactive measures taken by NAFED, along with guidance from the central and state governments and collaboration with the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF), approximately 2 million metric tonnes of soybean were procured. Of this, NAFED alone accounted for over 1.5 million metric tonnes, marking a record procurement.
This large-scale intervention helped stabilise market prices. “It did not lead the market to fall further, so it arrested the price at a level. And then again, it has slightly increased the prices at the mandi level, but not to the extent we desired. Other factors also impact the prices of soybean in the mandi, not just procurement,” he noted.
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Soybean and groundnut procurement together stands at around 3 million metric tonnes, Singh stated.
NAFED has successfully procured moong beans during the Kharif season. The procurement of arhar is currently ongoing, and plans are in place for interventions in the procurement of masoor and chana in the upcoming season.
For the full interview, watch the accompanying video
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(Edited by : Shweta Mungre)