The Haryana Government has issued guidelines for the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2016 beginning October 1.
The procurement of leviable paddy would begin on October 1 and continue upto December 15 and the period of procurement of Bajra would be from October 1 to November 15, said an official spokesman.
On the basis of reports from Agriculture Department and field, it is estimated that about 42 lakh Metric Tonnes (lMT) of leviable paddy would arrive in the mandis and purchase centres of Haryana, he said.
The spokesman said that procurement agencies’ share of purchase would be about 41 lMT. The rest about one lMT is expected to be purchased by millers and dealers. The leviable paddy purchased by the procurement agencies will have to be got milled and the entire Custom Milled Rice (CMR) manufactured from such paddy will have to be delivered to Central Pool by the end of March 2017.
The Central Government has fixed minimum support price (MSP) of paddy as Rs 1470 per quintal for common variety and for Grade A variety it is Rs 1510 per quintal. In case of coarse grain, the MSP for Bajra is Rs 1330 per quintal, Jowar (hybrid) Rs 1625 per quintal and Maize (Maladandi) will be procured at MSP of Rs 1625 per quintal.
The spokesman said that the Haryana Government is committed to make payments to farmers within 48-72 hours. Sufficient cash credit limit for purchase of Paddy and Bajra is being arranged from Reserve Bank of India. The payment to farmers will be made through Billing-cum-Payment Agents (BCPAs) and Arthiyas or as per the choice of the farmer is direct payment or through Arthtiyas. The BCPAs will ensure timely payment to the farmers through arthiyas, proper weighment of foodgrains, maintenance of proper accounts of foodgrains purchased and lifting the stocks from arthiyas, said he.
The Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department would make its control rooms functional at the state headquarters as well as district headquarters well before the commencement of the season.
Similarly, other procurement agencies will also set up their control rooms at their state headquarters as well as district headquarters. The procurement agencies also will ensure to communicate information about the procurement to the control rooms of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department on day-to-day basis.
The Department, in turn, will communicate the procurement information to the Central Government and other concerned quarters on day-to-day basis.
The spokesman said that for the convenience of the farmers, two boards in Hindi indicating specifications of paddy and bajra as laid down by the Central Government and the price payable would be displayed at prominent and conspicuous places in each mandi of the state.
In case of big mandis, the number of such boards would be increased according to the need. It would be the responsibility of the procurement agencies to ensure that representative samples of paddy and bajra are properly drawn everyday in each mandi and analyzed in order to determine its proper quality, said he.
The spokesman added that a written communication to this effect has been sent to all divisional commissioners, managing directors of all procuring agencies, deputy commissioners and district food and supplies controllers.