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Haryana Government on Sunday claimed that as soon as the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced relief to the sunflower farmers by giving interim procurement price by Rs 1000 per quintal under Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana, a sudden influx of sunflower crop in large quantities was witnessed at the Shahbad grain market of Kurukshetra District, Haryana; and now the purchase of sunflower in the state has raised to Rs 5,800 per quintal.
 
“While this announcement has given great relief to the farmers by bridging the gap of minimum support price (MSP) on one hand, it has also exposed the tall claims of the Punjab Government being farmer-friendly, on the other,” said the Government spokesperson.
 
Notably, Kurukshetra district has the highest production of sunflower and its main procurement centre is Shahbad Mandi. Apart from this, sunflower purchase centres have also been set up in eight mandis of Ambala, Yamunanagar, Karnal, and Panchkula districts.
 
On the direction of the Chief Minister, Hafed has started procurement of sunflower crops for the first time and has announced to remain till the procurement process is completed in the mandis. The government has decided to ensure procurement through Hafed, so that the farmers can get a fair price for their crop.
 
Hafed has procured sunflower at the rate of Rs 4,850 per quintal in Shahbad Anaj Mandi on Saturday, and with the Chief Minister's giving interim relief of Rs 1000 per quintal under the Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana, now the purchase of sunflower in Haryana has raised to Rs 5,800 per quintal. In this series, the Chief Minister disbursed Rs 29.13 crores in the accounts of sunflower farmers on Saturday.
 
While the market price is much less than this, at present, sunflower is being purchased in the mandis of Punjab between Rs 3,800 and Rs 4,200. However, due to the announcement of relief of Rs 1000 per quintal transfer rate compensation on the purchase of sunflower, the Chief Minister had expressed apprehension that farmers of other states may also turn to Haryana to sell their crops.