• The Department of Agriculture and Co-operation is implementing the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for procurement of agricultural and horticultural commodities, which are generally perishable in nature.

• The basic objective of MIS is to provide remunerative prices to the farmers, in case of glut in production and fall in prices.

• Further, MIS is implemented on the specific requests of the State Governments/UT Administrations, willing to share the loss with the Central Government on 50:50 basis (75:25 in case of north-eastern states). Under MIS, funds are not allocated to the states. Instead, central share of losses, as per the guidelines of MIS, is released to the State Governments/UTs, for which MIS has been approved based on specific proposals received from them.

• The Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) was set up in 2014-15 under the Department of Agriculture, Co-operation and Famers’ Welfare (DAC&FW) to help regulate the price volatility of important agri-horticultural commodities, like onion and potato, and pulses were also added subsequently. The PSF scheme was transferred from DAC&FW to the Department of Consumer Affairs (DOCA) in 2016.

• The scheme (PSF) provides for maintaining a strategic buffer of aforementioned commodities for subsequent calibrated release to moderate price volatility and discourage hoarding and unscrupulous speculation.

• ‘Operation Greens’ was announced in the Budget speech of 2018-19, with an outlay of Rs. 500 crores to stabilize the supply of tomato, onion and potato (TOP) crops and to ensure availability of TOP crops throughout the country, round the year, without price volatility.