New Delhi, July 28 -- The Centre has asked the agriculture ministry to relax the Price Support Scheme (PSS) norm requiring government-procured pulse stocks to be disposed of within nine months, as it seeks to preserve inventories amid emerging El Nino-related weather risks that could hit kharif production and fuel food inflation.

The Price Support Scheme (PSS) is a procurement mechanism under which the government buys pulses, oilseeds and copra from farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) when market prices fall below MSP, primarily to protect farmers' incomes.

An internal communication in this regard, seen by HT, shows that the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) requested the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare to exemp...