Procurement

The purchase operations in foodgrain is launched in view of two major objectives of meeting the requirements of the Public Distribution System (PDS) and maintaining the buffer stocks. The co-operatives and public agencies like Food Corporation of India and other commodity co-operatives have been engaged in performing this task. It has been observed that the procurement of rice and wheat were higher during 1993-94 than the preceding year. The quantity of rice procured during 1993-94 was 142.13 lakh tonnes as against 129.98 lakh tonnes in 1992-93. Similarly, the procurement of wheat during 1993-94 marketing season was higher at 128.35 lakh tonnes as against 63.80 lakh tonnes procured in 1992-93 season. However, it has been estimated that about 69.87 percent of the foodgrain had been transacted through private channel comprising commission agents, processors and wholesalers. The co-operatives procured the foodgrain to the tune of 18.45 percent of the total marketed surplus during 1992-93 while the margin of commission agents ranged between 2 to 7 percent depending upon the quality of produce and volume under transaction. The National Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) was designated as the central nodal agency to procure oilseeds under the MSP operations. NAFED had purchased a sizable volume of edible oilseeds in some of the states during 1993-94 to arrest the fall in the prices of oilseeds in the markets. During 1993-94, NAFED procured 21.8 thousand tonnes of Sunflower seeds from Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka while 5.05 thousand tonnes of Groundnut from Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It also procured substantial quantity of safflower worth 15.7 thousand tonnes from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka during 1993-94.