About 75 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of wheat is expected to arrive in grain markets (mandis) of Haryana during the Rabi season-2016.
Haryana Government has made arrangements for smooth procurement of wheat and other grains during the Rabi season-2016 which has been notified from April 1 to May 15. The staff of procurement agencies would remain present in the mandis from April 1 to ensure smooth mopping–up operation, said a spokesman of the Food and Supplies Department on Sunday.
He said that the State Government is committed to making payments to the farmers within 48-72 hours of their grains being procured. The Minimum Support Price (MSP) for wheat has been fixed at Rs1,525 per quintal. As many as 379 mandis or purchase centres have been set up across the state.
The Food and Supplies Department and HAFED would purchase 33 per cent each of the wheat in the mandis. Similarly, the Food Corporation of India and the Haryana Warehousing Corporation would purchase 12 per cent each, and the Haryana Agro Industries Corporation ten per cent of the total arrival of wheat. The procurement agencies have also made necessary arrangements for packing material for procurement of 75 lakh MT of wheat, said he.
Steps have been taken to ensure that mandis are equipped with such basic amenities as drinking water, electricity, pucca platforms, sheds and parking place. The mandis have been so spaced as to ensure that the farmers are not required to travel more than one kilometre to sell their produce, the spokesman added.
The production of barley is likely to be about 1.5 lakh MT and about 10,000 MT of barley is likely to arrive in the mandis. The MSP for barley has been fixed at Rs1,225 per quintal. In the event market prices of barley fall below the MSP, the state procurement agencies would effect its purchase on MSP in the mandis allocated to them, said he.
The spokesman said that the production of gram was likely to be about 1.05 lakh MT this year and its MSP has been fixed at Rs3,425 per quintal. Since the trend has been that the market prices of gram generally rule higher than the MSP, the need to purchase at MSP may not arise. In case, the market prices tend to fall below MSP, HAFED would make the purchases at MSP.
The spokesman said that over and above the MSP, bonus of Rs75 per quintal would also be payable on gram and mustard. imilarly, in case the price of mustard falls below the MSP, which has been fixed at Rs3,350 per quintal, HAFED would effect purchases on MSP on behalf of NAFED.
The Managing Director of HAFED would issue necessary guidelines, allocation of mandis and specifications prescribed by the Central Government for the purchase of mustard to the district managers.
The procurement agencies would ensure that the farmers do not get a price lower than the MSP, and that they do not resort to any distress sale of their produce, said the spokesman
He added that the Food and Supplies Department would set up control rooms at the state and district headquarters well before the commencement of the season. Similarly, the procurement agencies would also set up own control rooms at state headquarters as well as at district headquarters. The procurement agencies would communicate information about the procurement to the control rooms of the Food and Supplies Department on a day-to-day basis. The department would, in turn, communicate the procurement information to the Central Government on a day-to-day basis, he said.