Written by Ritu SharmaGandhinagar | Updated: November 10, 2025 09:58 AM IST 4 min readThe state government is procuring groundnut at an MSP of Rs 1,452 per 20 kg or Rs 7,263 per quintal. This is Rs 100 higher from last year. (File photo)Bhaveshbhai Patel (34) keeps an attentive eye as two men peel out groundnut kernels from a batch of 100gm , weigh them, and put them into a small machine. Patel’s anxiety broke into a smile when this sample out of his 2500kg groundnut produce cleared the quality test – which included a moisture test and an analysis of the size and weight of the kernels – before being procured by the state government at the minimum support price (MSP).Patel – who was waiting for the procurement to start for the last 20 days since he harvested his groundnut crop – reached Shri Dehgam Taluka Co-operative Processing Society Limited with his produce on Sunday morning from Manekpur village, around 20 km from Dehgam.The state government from Sunday started purchasing the farmers’ crops – groundnuts, moong, urad and soybean at MSP. The process was already delayed by over a week due to unseasonal rainfall. The procurement was earlier scheduled to start on November 1.Calling himself one of the few “fortunates” to have harvested and stored groundnut in a godown, Patel says he has seen massive crop damage in his village and surrounding areas due to unseasonal rains.Agriculture Minister Jitu Vaghani launched the procurement at support price at Dehgam’s Co-operative Processing Society Limited at 10 am on Sunday and also inspected the procurement system process under the Price Support Scheme (PSP).Dehgam in Gandhinagar district is one of the 90 procurement centres opened in the first phase, depending on farmer registrations. The only centre in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar districts to start purchase, the Shri Dehgam Taluka Co-operative Processing Society Limited registered 92 farmers as on Sunday for the purchase of groundnut. Over a period of time, over 300 procurement centres will operate in the state, the state government has announced, asserting that there’s a plan to complete the purchase in a maximum of 90 days.The state government is procuring groundnut at an MSP of Rs 1,452 per 20 kg or Rs 7,263 per quintal. This is Rs 100 higher from last year.Story continues below this adHowever, this year, the cap on purchase per farmer has declined from 40 quintal to 25 quintal of groundnut. This decline, farmers say, will keep their earnings “nearly equal” despite the hike in MSP.“Out of a produce of 360 quintal this year, 200 quintal of groundnut produce got destroyed in the rains. The MSP this year has increased by Rs 100 but the maximum limit of purchase from one farmer has declined from 40 quintal to 25 quintal. In a way, this will hardly result in any income benefit for the farmers. In addition, half of our crop got damaged in the unseasonal rains,” Pravinbhai Patel, a farmer with a land holding of 30 bigha in Nandol village, nearly 5 km from Dehgam told The Indian Express. At the Dehgam procurement centre, Pravinbhai lined up for the sale of 2500 kg of groundnut.Another farmer from Jindva village – Rohitbhai Patel, who sowed groundnut on his entire 35 bigha land, – made another point on the “balance” of farmers’ earning this year. “The MSP might be higher but the remainder of the groundnut crop, used as fodder for cattle, has been entirely damaged. We cannot use it either for our cattle or sell it in the market which would fetch us around Rs 200 per 20 kg. So, if the government does not provide us with fodder assistance, the earning of farmers is balanced – neither high nor less as compared to last year,” Rohitbhai told The Indian Express.The registered farmers were informed in advance about the date of bringing the goods through SMS, says Dhanvantsinh Chauhan, chairman of Shri Dehgam Taluka Co-operative Processing Society Limited.Story continues below this ad“So far, by noon, on the first day, five farmers have reached to sell their groundnut crop. While the farmers are informed in advance through SMS, the payment will be made to farmers through DBT in their bank accounts within a short period of time after purchase. On a single day, only one tractor (around 2,500 kg) per farmer is allowed to be procured,” Chauhan told The Indian Express.For sale at support price, government records say more than 9.31 lakh farmers have registered online for groundnut, more than 72,900 for soybean, more than 1,900 for semi-crop and more than 6,000 for moong crop.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:GujratMinimum Support Price (MSP)