To boost crop diversification as a lucrative alternative for the States beleaguered farmers, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has written to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his direct intervention in procuring maize at minimum support price (MSP).
lamenting the delay in allowing purchase of maize at MSP through central agencies, including FCI and NAFED, Capt Amarinder said that an early decision on this was necessary to facilitate timely procurement of maize.
Capt Amarinder, in his letter, pointed out that the Government of India (GoI) had already noted that the Ministry of Food and Civil Supplies should procure maize at MSP as it was one of the important food crops.
He expressed apprehension that the issue of procurement of maize at MSP by the Centre might never be settled if left to the officials, thus necessitating the Prime Ministers personal intervention.
Capt Amarinder also sought the PM’s support in enabling Markfed, Punjab, designated by the Union Ministry of Agriculture as the primary procuring agency for sunflower, to start market intervention for sunflower purchase.
He requested Modi to issue necessary directions for NAFED to provide capital support to Markfed and ensure full compensation for any loss.
Capt Amarinder also impressed upon Modi the need to urgently resolve the procurement problems of farmers, who were venturing to diversify to maize and sunflower to conserve the State’s natural resources.
Observing that the production potential of wheat and rice, covering about 80 per cent of the arable area in Punjab, had been almost fully exploited, the chief minister underlined the need for crop diversification, along with value addition of produce.
The state government, he said, had identified maize, cotton sunflower, agro-forestry and pulses as alternate crops and had also decided to increase the area under maize cultivation to over five lakh hectares in the next three-five years, thereby reducing the area under rice cultivation.
However, it would not be possible for the state to achieve this target without the central Governments support in maize procurement at MSP, Captain Amarinder wrote, adding that despite repeated requests from the State Government to the Union Ministry of Agriculture, central agencies have failed to procure maize at MSP, forcing farmers to go for distress sale at lower prices.
He further noted that the Government’s decision of June 2016 to approve the import of five lakh MT of maize under Tariff Rate Quota Scheme had further contributed to subdued prices of the commodity in the domestic markets.
The Scheme provides for zero import duty for maize, he pointed out, stressing the need for urgent intervention to arrest the situation.