Nafed Initiatives: Direct Procurement of Pulses and Oilseeds to Reduce Import Dependence

Key facts

• Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah directed the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) and National Cooperative Consumers' Federation (NCCF) to procure pulses and oilseeds directly from farmers to eliminate middlemen.
• The initiative aims to reduce India's annual imports of 6-7 million tonnes of pulses and 15-16 million tonnes of edible oils.
• A two-year deadline has been set for farmers to sell directly to the two cooperatives and receive payments without intermediaries.
• Nafed launched four initiatives: Nafex.in for transparent auctioning, Drishti for digital inventory management and ERP, a real-time data analysis tool, and the Nafed Kalyan Fund to support the careers of farmers' children.
• Nafed's annual turnover grew from ₹500 crore in 2013 to ₹30,000 crore in FY25, reaching 76 lakh farmers, with a future target of ₹50,000 crore.