In September, the central government ended the duty-free import of edible oils and imposed a 20% tax, with the argument that this would lead to better prices for soybean farmers, even if edible oil prices rise slightly. While this led to an increase in edible oil prices just ahead of the festive season, soybean is still being sold below its Minimum Support Price (MSP). This means that consumers have faced higher costs, but farmers have not benefited as expected. Currently, soybean prices in various mandis are significantly below the government-set MSP. Meanwhile, the central government has announced the purchase of soybean at MSP in soybean-producing states like Madhya Pradesh (MP). However, this effort has had little impact. The government set the MSP for soybean at ₹4892 per quintal for the 2024-25 marketing season, which is a 6.3% increase (₹292) over the previous year's MSP of ₹4600 per quintal. However, the average wholesale mandi price is still hovering around ₹4500-4600 per quintal, which is below the MSP. The government announced large-scale MSP purchases from farmers, and agencies like Nafed and NCCF began purchasing. However, reports indicate that the quality standards set by the government are stringent, and the pace of procurement has been slow. According to available data, by the end of last week, only 26,442 tons of soybean had been procured under the MSP scheme in states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Telangana. The Ministry of Agriculture had approved the purchase of a total of 32.2 lakh tons of soybean for the 2024-25 marketing season, with 13.6 lakh tons to be purchased in Madhya Pradesh, 13 lakh tons in Maharashtra, 2.9 lakh tons in Rajasthan, 1 lakh tons in Karnataka, 90,000 tons in Gujarat, and 50,000 tons in Telangana. In Madhya Pradesh, due to the low prices, only farmers in urgent need are selling their soybean. In the Indore mandi, there was a decline in prices as plant purchases remained weak despite good arrivals. On Monday, plant purchase prices ranged between ₹4450-4500 per quintal. Soybean oil trading remained normal, with no significant changes in prices. Other oilseed prices were as follows: Mustard (Nimar variety) was ₹5700-5900, average mustard was ₹5500-5600, and Rai was ₹5800-6000. Soybean was quoted at ₹4500 per quintal.