NAFED Rejection Leads To Rain-Damaged Soyabean Stocks Piling Up
Rain-damaged crop piles up as farmers sell below MSP and stage protests
Adilabad: Soyabean farmers in Adilabad district are facing severe distress after the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) rejected thousands of quintals of produce, citing poor quality due to colour change, leading to a pile-up of stocks at several market yards.
The situation is similar across many northern districts of the State. In Adilabad alone, NAFED officials rejected around 3,500 quintals of soyabean on quality grounds. With procurement denied, several farmers were forced to sell their produce to private traders at much lower prices.
At Bela market yard, about 400 quintals of soyabean have been lying unsold for over a month, as NAFED officials are yet to resume procurement. According to official estimates, only 1.64 lakh quintals have been procured so far from 6,280 farmers, against a total Kharif yield of nearly six lakh quintals in Adilabad district.
While the minimum support price (MSP) for soyabean is fixed at Rs 5,328 per quintal, distressed farmers are selling their produce to private traders for Rs 3,800 to Rs 4,100 per quintal. Farmers have launched protests against both the State and Central governments, demanding immediate procurement.
In Adilabad district, 24,599 farmers cultivated soyabean over 71,356.08 acres across 21 mandals, producing an estimated 6,03,943 quintals during the Kharif 2025 season, according to the Agriculture Department.
On December 22, Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageshwar Rao wrote to Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan, requesting procurement of rain-damaged soyabean under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) for Kharif 2025 in Telangana.
In his letter, the minister stated that soyabean is a major kharif crop in Telangana, particularly in northern districts dominated by tribal farmers. During 2025-26, about 3.66 lakh acres were brought under soyabean cultivation, with an estimated production of 2.79 lakh metric tonnes.
He said the Government of India had approved PSS procurement of soyabean under MSP and allotted 72,675 metric tonnes to Telangana. Against this quota, 35,035 metric tonnes have already been procured from 17,313 farmers through 38 procurement centres.
The minister noted that nearly 40,000 metric tonnes of rain-damaged soyabean, largely from tribal areas in Adilabad, Nirmal, Kamareddy and Sangareddy districts, remains unprocured. He urged the Centre to procure 36,600 metric tonnes of rain-damaged soyabean under MSP or through an alternative pricing mechanism by relaxing the prescribed quality (PAQ) norms and issuing necessary directions to NAFED and NCCF.
Rythu Swarajya Vedika leader Sangepu Borranna said heavy rainfall between August 16 and November 4 severely damaged the soyabean crop in Adilabad district, resulting in discolouration. Although farmers dried the soaked produce in sunlight, the colour change led to rejection by procurement agencies, he said.
Due to NAFED’s reluctance to procure the affected produce, soyabean stocks have accumulated at market yards in Jainad, Bela, Ichoda, Boath, Indravelli and Narnoor mandals.
Farmers in Bhajarhathnoor observed a bandh and staged a dharna on Wednesday demanding immediate procurement, while similar protests were held in Ichoda and Bela mandals earlier this week.
