‘Soil Sold as Mustard’ Exposed in MP Government Warehouse; NAFED Files FIR Against Five Officials

Sagar (Madhya Pradesh):
A major agricultural procurement scam has surfaced in Madhya Pradesh after the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) обнаружed that mustard seeds stored in a government warehouse were largely made of soil pellets, not genuine produce. Shockingly, the so-called mustard dissolved within minutes when put in water, exposing large-scale adulteration.

The scam was detected at a warehouse operated by the MP Warehousing and Logistics Corporation in Rehli, Sagar district. Following the revelation, an FIR was registered on January 17 against five officials in connection with the fraud.

Fake Seeds Passed Off as Mustard

According to NAFED officials, what appeared visually to be mustard seeds were, in reality, small round pellets made of soil, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the stock.
“By appearance, the grains looked exactly like mustard seeds, but water and laboratory tests confirmed they were made of soil,” said Ranjit Kumar Singh, Deputy Manager, NAFED Bhopal.

Scam Uncovered During Auction

The fraud came to light after NAFED auctioned the stored mustard and a buyer from Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, raised doubts about the quality while lifting the consignment. This prompted a joint inspection involving warehouse staff, cooperative society representatives and surveyors.

Purchased at MSP Using Public Funds

NAFED had procured around 8,950 quintals of mustard during the 2024–25 Rabi season through two cooperative societies in Rehli under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) scheme. The procurement was made at ₹2,650 per quintal.
While over 8,600 quintals had already been auctioned, around 300 quintals remained in the warehouse—where the adulteration was confirmed.

FIR and Investigation Underway

NAFED has termed the incident a serious breach of trust and misuse of public funds and has lodged an FIR against five officials linked to procurement, storage and verification processes. Further investigation is underway to determine how fake material passed quality checks and whether the scam extends to other warehouses.

Consumer Safety at Risk

Officials warned that such adulteration in food commodities poses a grave threat to consumer health, calling the incident not just financial fraud but a public safety concern.

The case has triggered alarm within procurement agencies, raising questions over quality control, accountability and corruption in MSP-based government purchases.