With untimely rains along with hailstorm causing damage to crops, Haryana has scaled down its wheat procurement target for central pool by 13 per cent to 65 lakh tonnes for the upcoming Rabi marketing season.
"Keeping in view, the untimely heavy rain and hailstorms which caused heavy loss to the standing wheat crop in the State, the procurement target has been reduced from 75 lakh metric tonnes to 65 lMT during ensuing Rabi Marketing Season 2015-16," an official spokesman of Haryana Food and Supplies department said here.
Haryana Government has projected loss in wheat crop over 18 lakh hectares because of hailstorm while seeking compensation of Rs500 core for compensating farmers. The State Government has made elaborate arrangements for the smooth procurement of wheat starting from April 1 while Reserve Bank of India has authorised a credit limit of over Rs10,053 crore to Haryana for the procurement of wheat, he said.
From the coming procurement season, Central agency Food Corporation of India will not purchase crop from Haryana. The entire wheat stock will be bought by State owned procurement agencies. Acting on Shanta Kumar Committee for overhauling of Food Corporation of India, the Centre had asked FCI to stop purchase of foodgrains in states like Punjab and Haryana in the wake of fully developed the procurement system in these States.
The entire stock would be purchased by the State Government and its agencies on behalf of Government of India for Rabi Marketing Season 2015, he said. He said the procurement agencies have been allotted the procurement share. The Food and Supplies Department would procure 33 per cent wheat whereas 40 per cent wheat would be procured by Hafed, 15 per cent by Haryana Warehousing Corporation, ten per cent by Haryana Agro Industries Corporation and two per cent by Confed.
Claiming that the State has adequate covered and scientific open storage capacity of about 107.25 lMT to store foodgrains, he said no stock would be stored at vulnerable places. As many as 376 mandis and purchase centres has been made operational for the procurement of wheat this season and no farmer has to travel beyond eight kilometers to sell his produce, he further said.
