Farmers relieved as Jamnagar’s Hapa Market starts purchasing groundnuts at MSP

The Hapa market in Jamnagar will start purchasing groundnut at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) from Thursday, much to the relief of farmers.

In the presence of officials, Jamnagar district BJP leader Ramesh Mungra, along with Market Yard head Mukund Sabhaya, the Jamnagar Taluka Cooperative Purchase and Sale Union Limited officially started the purchase of groundnuts at the government-approved MSP.

The support price for Kharif-24 groundnut has been set at ₹6,783 per quintal. In addition, the support prices for Soybean Kharif-24, Arhar (Pigeon Pea) Kharif-24, and Mung Kharif have been fixed at ₹4,892 per quintal, ₹7,400 per quintal, and ₹8,682 per quintal, respectively.

Laboratory testing is being conducted on-site, and farmers’ groundnuts are being purchased based on the tested quality.

This decision came as a relief for farmers as the supply of groundnuts had started in early October, but many traders initially argued that the groundnuts were damaged due to moisture and humidity, and took advantage of this by buying them from farmers at much lower prices — around ₹1,100 per 20 kg.

Which had resulted in groundnut being sold at prices below the Minimum Support Price (MSP), which is ₹1,356 per 20 kg. Most of the groundnuts in the market are priced between ₹1,140 and ₹1,350.