31.91 lakh tonnes of pulses, oilseeds procured

New Delhi, June 14 (IANS) National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) has procured 31.91 lakh tonnes of pulses and oilseeds in 2017-18, benefitting over 20 lakh farmers, an official statement said on Thursday.

Money was directly transferred to farmers' accounts and Nafed is expected to earn profit this year, said the Agriculture Ministry statement. 

Nafed procured 64 lakh tonnes of pulses and oilseeds at minimum support price (MSP) from farmers in 2014-18 while it had procured only 8 lakh metric tonnes in the last four years (2011-14) of the UPA government, it said. 

The bank guarantee of Nafed was increased to Rs 42,000 crore by the NDA government against only Rs 200-250 crore during the UPA government, it added.