The Madhya Pradesh government has formally written to the Centre seeking a significant increase in the state's summer moong procurement ceiling under the Price Support Scheme (PSS), as hundreds of farmers march toward the Chief Minister's residence in Bhopal demanding urgent relief. The letter, sent by State Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Minister Aidal Singh Kansana to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, requests a revised target of 8.06 lakh metric tonnes — equivalent to 40 per cent of the state's projected seasonal output.

Scale of Production and the Procurement Gap

Madhya Pradesh has cultivated moong across 14.30 lakh hectares this season, with productivity estimated at 1,410 kilograms per hectare. Total production is projected to touch 20.16 lakh metric tonnes. Against this, the Centre has so far approved procurement of only 4.54 lakh metric tonnes — a figure that Minister Kansana has argued is inadequate to meet farmer demand and protect grower incomes.

The gap is not merely theoretical. According to the minister's letter, last year the state procured 7.72 lakh metric tonnes against a target of 4.19 lakh metric tonnes, demonstrating both the appetite for government purchases and the state's operational capacity to exceed its assigned ceiling.

Bottlenecks Leaving Farmers Without Relief

The procurement shortfall is already showing on the ground. As of the date of the letter, 3.47 lakh farmers had registered under the procurement scheme, but only 82,000 had been able to sell their produce — meaning roughly 76 per cent of registered growers remain locked out of minimum support price (MSP) benefits. Kansana has urged the Centre to reallocate unused quotas from other states to Madhya Pradesh, where production has surged well beyond earlier estimates.

Farmer Protests Escalate in Bhopal

The formal appeal comes amid visible political pressure. Hundreds of farmers have converged on Bhopal, camping along the Bhopal–Hoshangabad road and moving toward the Chief Minister's residence to press their demands. Protesters argue that without an expanded procurement window, they will be compelled to sell summer moong at prices below MSP — crystallising losses precisely when harvests are at a record high.

The state government has publicly assured farmers that it is actively pursuing relief from the Centre. Minister Kansana's letter stressed that raising the procurement target is essential not only to stabilise farmer incomes in the short term but also to sustain long-term interest in pulse cultivation — a crop central to India's food security agenda.

Why the Centre's Response Matters

Pulse production in India has historically been vulnerable to price cycles: bumper harvests depress open-market rates, discouraging farmers from sowing in the following season. The MSP procurement mechanism under the PSS is designed to break that cycle. A refusal or delay in expanding Madhya Pradesh's quota could reinforce exactly the distress dynamic the scheme was built to prevent.

Notably, Madhya Pradesh has emerged as one of India's largest summer moong producers, and its procurement data consistently outpaces its allocated targets. The Centre's decision — expected to be closely watched by farm lobbies and opposition parties alike — carries implications that extend well beyond a single season's harvest.