Synopsis
The Centre is closely monitoring food prices and availability to ensure consumer affordability and maintain stable pricing. The government's proactive measures aim to enhance domestic agricultural production for essential commodities in response to favorable weather conditions.Key Takeaways
- Government vigilance on food prices and availability.
- Increased production of pulses and onions expected.
- Measures taken to stabilize prices for consumers and farmers.
- Inflation rates lower compared to previous years.
- Policy adjustments made for onion exports.
New Delhi, Jan 17 (NationPress) The Centre is vigilantly tracking the prices and availability of essential food items to ensure consumer affordability and maintain a stable pricing environment, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution on Friday.
To enhance domestic production and adjust import and export policies for overall availability and affordability of essential food items, the Centre has implemented various measures, as noted in the statement.
Forecasts for the production of pulses and onions in 2024-25 indicate an increase compared to last year, attributed to favorable weather conditions and good monsoon rains. Tur production is projected at 35.02 LMT, marking a 2.5% increase from last year’s 34.17 LMT, according to the statement.
The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has instituted regulations for Tur procurement during the ongoing marketing season. Additionally, Chana and Masur production is expected to thrive due to optimal sowing and favorable soil moisture and weather conditions. Kharif Moong production is anticipated to reach 13.83 LMT, reflecting a 20% increase from the previous year's 11.54 LMT.
Both Kharif and Late Kharif onion production have been assessed as promising due to increased sowing. Furthermore, Rabi onion sowing is reported to be advancing well. Similar positive reports have been noted for potato sowing, credited to favorable climatic conditions.
The statement emphasized that the average annual retail inflation rate of 4.95% in 2024 is lower than the rates recorded in the previous two years, which were 6.69% in 2022 and 5.65% in 2023. This indicates that, from a food price management perspective, the year 2024 has been navigated with reasonable success despite various challenges.
The effects of the El-Nino phenomenon in 2022-23 and 2023-24 led to two successive years of below-average production for major pulses like Tur, Chana, and Urad due to erratic monsoon rains in regions that cultivate pulses.
In response to these challenges, the government has made numerous pre-emptive and timely decisions aimed at maintaining price stability while considering the interests of both consumers and farmers.
To promote domestic pulse production, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has lifted the procurement ceiling under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) for traditionally imported pulses such as Tur, Urad, and Masur, ensuring 100% procurement at MSP for these crops during 2024-25.
The NCCF and NAFED have initiated pre-registration for farmers to guarantee procurement, alongside distributing seeds and organizing awareness programs in regions beyond traditional pulse-growing areas.
To boost domestic availability, a duty-free import policy for Tur, Urad, and Masur has been established, along with the duty-free importation of Chana.
The government has continued selling Chana Dal, Moong Dal, and Masur Dal under the Bharat brand to have a direct impact on retail prices of dals. Regular dialogues with the Retailers Association of India and organized retail chains have also been conducted. These initiatives helped reduce the CPI pulses inflation rate from 19.54% in January 2024 to 3.83% in December 2024.
Regarding onions, the government procured 4.7 LMT of Rabi-2024 onions to build a buffer stock, which was subsequently released to help lower prices. The average procurement price of Rs 2,833 per quintal in 2024-25 exceeded the procurement price of Rs 1,724 per quintal from the prior year, which benefited onion farmers.
Given the shortfall in onion production, the government adjusted the onion export policy to secure domestic supply – exports were banned from December 8, 2023 until May 3, 2024, after which they were liberalized again. This current policy has facilitated increased exports, with monthly onion export quantities rising from 0.72 LMT in September to 1.68 LMT in December 2024.
