India’s Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA) has asked the Center to intervene quickly to stop the decline in mustard prices below the MSP (minimum support price). Ajay Jhunjhunwala, the president of SEA, claimed in a letter to the Centre that mustard prices have fallen below the MSP of $5,450 per quintal. A further decrease in costs cannot be ruled out, he added, as arrivals are rising daily.
Farmers are suffering from the price decline, he claimed, and they are losing money. We shouldn’t allow the mustard producers to lose hope. He recommended that government organizations, like NAFED, prepare to support mustard and defend the MSP made public by the government. He claimed that unchecked imports of refined palm oil, or palmolein, had caused a decrease in the price of edible oils, which was having an effect on farmers during the height of harvest.
“We believe that significant imports are neither aiding Indian refiners nor mustard producers. It goes against our Prime Minister’s rallying cry to “Made in India,” he declared. To deter the import of palmolein, Jhunjhunwala advised that it be immediately placed in the “restricted” category or that the price difference between CPO (crude palm oil) and palmolein be increased to at least 20%.
“This measure will have a beneficial effect on improving the price of mustard and also help enhance capacity utilization of the domestic refining industry,” he said. To safeguard oilseed farmers and the domestic refining sector, SEA anticipated that these safeguards would be put into place right away. According to the letter, these steps may also ensure that government organizations only make limited purchases in order to defend MSP and prevent losses.
