JODHPUR, March 2 -- The targets set for crop procurement at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) have largely remained on paper over the past two years. Data presented in the state assembly for the years 2024 and 2025 show that only wheat procurement exceeded the target once in two years, in Rabi 2025, while procurement of almost all major pulses and oilseeds fell far short of the targets. According to the reply given in the assembly, the target for wheat in Rabi 2025 was set at 2 million metric tonnes, against which procurement of over 2.13 million metric tonnes was recorded. In contrast, the target for mustard procurement in Rabi 2025 was 1.32 million metric tonnes, but only about 70,000 metric tonnes were procured. The situation with mustard was not any better in Rabi 2024. Against a target of 1.46 million metric tonnes that year, only about 351,000 metric tonnes were procured. The situation with pulses was even more worrisome. The target for urad procurement in Kharif 2024 was approximately 149,000 metric tonnes, while the actual procurement was only 35.70 tonnes. In Kharif 2025, procurement was only 492.45 tonnes against a target of 168,000 metric tonnes. There was also a significant shortfall in chana procurement. In Rabi 2024, only 1,252 metric tonnes were procured against a target of 452,000 metric tonnes, while in Rabi 2025, only about 54,000 metric tonnes were procured against a target of 546,000 metric tonnes. A similar trend was observed in oilseed crops. In Kharif 2024, groundnut procurement was 438,233 metric tonnes against a target of 531,828 metric tonnes, and soybean procurement was approximately 98,760 metric tonnes against a target of 294,320 metric tonnes. In Kharif 2025, the groundnut procurement target was 554,750 metric tonnes, against which 313,284 metric tonnes were procured. In soybean procurement, against a target of 265,750 metric tonnes, only 17,390 metric tonnes were procured. It is noteworthy that these Kharif 2025 figures are as of February 19, 2026. Regarding the lower-than-target procurement at the MSP, Rampal Jat, national president of the Kisan Mahapanchayat, said that the system is entirely responsible. He said that it has been a long-standing demand that procurement at the MSP be conducted at the Gram Seva Cooperative Societies. "There are approximately eight thousand such societies in the state. If procurement begins at the village level, farmers will be able to sell their produce easily." He explained that a foot march was organised in 2019 demanding this, and an agreement was reached with the state government to implement it after a year. However, despite the passage of several years, procurement has not yet begun at the village cooperative society level, he said. "Procurement centres in the state are less than one thousand, preventing farmers from having easy access," he claimed. Jat alleged corruption in the process, saying that farmers' produce is not approved unless the personal interests of those involved in the procurement system are served. He said that the government does not announce procurement dates on time. When the crop arrives in the market and the procurement date is not announced, farmers are forced to sell their produce at low prices in the open market, he said. "For example, the mustard crop begins arriving in the market by the first week of February, but the decision on procurement at the MSP is often delayed until April. This prevents farmers from receiving a fair price," said Jat....