Centre pushes states on fertiliser black-marketing, MSP procurement; 9.25 crore farmer IDs created

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan urged states to achieve 100% farmer registration for schemes within six months, emphasizing the need to curb fertilizer hoarding and black-marketing. He also stressed mandatory Aadhaar-linked registration and biometric authentication for MSP procurement of pulses and oilseeds, with direct DBT payments to farmers.