The government has decided to procure a record 4.5 million tonnes (MT) of pulses under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) scheme for the 2024-25 marketing season. This decision comes as mandi prices are below the MSP, driven by a strong crop outlook. The agriculture ministry has sanctioned the purchase of pulses such as tur, chana, urad, masur, and moong from key farming states including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Tamil Nadu, for both the kharif and rabi seasons. An official from the ministry highlighted that this season’s procurement authorization is the highest ever, and the government’s commitment to purchase 100% of tur, urad, and masur has encouraged states to request higher procurement under the price support scheme. The only pending proposal is from Rajasthan for chana procurement. With the government’s pulse buffer stock falling to less than half of the required amount, procurement agencies such as Nafed and the National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) are collaborating with state agencies to build stock and ensure MSP support for farmers. For the ongoing kharif season, the ministry has sanctioned the purchase of 1.32 MT of tur, of which 0.14 MT has already been procured at MSP. For the rabi season, the approved procurement includes 2.16 MT of chana, 0.94 MT of masur, 90,000 tonnes of urad, and 13,500 tonnes of moong. Rajasthan is expected to procure around 0.4 MT of chana, pending the state’s formal proposal. Typically, rabi pulses are procured between March and May, while kharif pulse procurement is already in progress. The previous record for procurement was set in 2017-18, when 4.5 MT of pulses were bought under the scheme. However, overall procurement has dropped in recent years, falling to just 0.69 MT in 2023-24, down from 2.83 MT in 2022-23 and 3.03 MT in 2021-22. This decline in procurement is attributed to market prices remaining above the MSP due to lower production. Currently, the government holds only 1.45 MT of pulses in its buffer stock, far below the 3.5 MT required for market intervention to manage price fluctuations. A large portion of this stock consists of 0.75 MT of moong and 0.56 MT of masur, some of which were obtained through imports. As of Saturday, mandi prices for tur in Akola, Maharashtra, were ₹7,375 per quintal, lower than the MSP of ₹7,550 per quintal, and 30% lower than last year’s price of ₹10,525 per quintal. Similarly, chana is being traded at ₹5,525 per quintal in Delhi mandis, below its MSP of ₹5,650 per quintal and 10% lower than the ₹6,150 per quintal price a year ago. Retail inflation for pulses decreased by 0.35% in February, down from 2.59% in January, signaling expectations of a strong kharif and rabi harvest. This comes in contrast to the sharp 113% rise in pulse inflation observed in August 2024. In 2019, the government introduced a policy to maintain a buffer stock of pulses to control prices through market intervention. This buffer stock is mainly created through domestic procurement under the PSS, with some additional stock sourced through imports using the price stabilization fund.