Cabinet nod for NAFED to procure 12 lakh tonnes of J&K apples

Description

Context: The Union Cabinet has given its nod for a Central procurement agency to buy 12 lakh tonnes of apples in Jammu and Kashmir this year.

Other details:

The scheme flopped last year, as it manage to procure only about 1% of its target.
Apple procurement in the Union Territory will be done by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) through designated State agencies, under a Market Intervention Scheme of the Agriculture Ministry.
The Centre has allowed NAFED to use a government guarantee of ₹2,500 crore for this operation.
Losses incurred, will be shared by the Centre and the Union Territory’s administration on a 50:50 basis.
Procurement will be done directly from apple growers and payment will be done into their bank accounts via direct benefit transfers.
It will provide an effective marketing platform to apple growers and will facilitate employment generation for the local people. It will ensure remunerative prices for apples resulting in overall income enhancement of farmers in J&K.

About Market Intervention Scheme:

Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) is a price support mechanism implemented on the request of State Governments for procurement of perishable and horticultural commodities in the event of a fall in market prices.
The Scheme is implemented when there is at least 10% increase in production or 10% decrease in the ruling rates over the previous normal year.
Its objective is to protect the growers of these horticultural/agricultural commodities from making distress sale in the event of bumper crop during the peak arrival period when prices fall to very low level. Thus it provides remunerative prices to the farmers in case of glut in production and fall in prices.
The Department of Agriculture & Cooperation is implementing the scheme. Under MIS, funds are not allocated to the States.