The government has started buying oilseeds from farmers through MSP operations to support prices amidst a decline in mandi prices of mustard. They aim to purchase 2.82 million metric tons of mustard from farmers in major oilseed-producing states over the next three months.
In Bharatpur, Rajasthan, the current average price for mustard seed is Rs 5100 per quintal, compared to the MSP of Rs 5650 per quintal for the 2023-2024 season. Two organizations, the National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) and the Farmers’ Cooperative Nafed, have purchased 72,000 tons of mustard in these states in cooperation with state agencies.
According to the agriculture ministry’s most current second advance estimates of crop output, mustard seed production was expected to reach a record 12.69 MT in the July–June 2022–2023 crop year.
With reduced import taxes of just 5.5% on crude oil imports, India’s imports of edible oils—palm, soybean, and sunflower—rose 17% year over year to a record 16.47 million tonne in the 2022–2023 oil year (November–October). In February 2024, mustard oil retail inflation fell by 18.14% compared to the previous year.
