E-Paper
Only 100 farmers to be allowed to enter Haryana mandis per day
Haryana state agricultural marketing board issued guidelines to all market committees on Wednesday, stating that only 50 farmers each will be allowed in a mandi from 8am to 2pm and 2.30pm to 6pm daily to maintain physical distance in view of Covid-19 outbreak.
With social distancing being the key to success of the upcoming procurement season, Haryana government’s agencies on Wednesday decided that every day, only 100 farmers will be allowed to bring their farm produce to the state mandis.
The mustard procurement will start on April 15, while wheat will be procured April 20 onwards. The process will go on till June 30 at over 2,000 procurement centres for wheat and about 135 for mustard.
Haryana state agricultural marketing board issued guidelines to all market committees on Wednesday, stating that only 50 farmers each will be allowed in a mandi from 8am to 2pm and 2.30pm to 6pm daily to maintain physical distance in view of Covid-19 outbreak.
MUSTARD, GRAM PURCHASE CAPS LIKELY TO GET RELAXED
While there is no daily limit on wheat buying, there is a cap on the purchase of mustard (25 quintal per day) and gram (20 quintal per day) from one farmer.
However, officials said the state government on Wednesday requested the Union agriculture minister to raise the mustard and gram purchase limit to 40 quintals per day. The increase in daily quantity would mean lesser visits to mandis by farmers.
“Also, we are seeking an increase in the quantity of mustard and gram procured by Nafed from 25% to 40%,” said an official. The procurement of mustard and gram is done under the price support scheme (PSS). It comes into operation when the prices in open market fall below MSP. As per the existing norms, only 25% of the mustard and gram crop can be bought under the PSS by the procurement agencies at MSP.
CENTRES TO BE ARHTIYA SPECIFIC
Officials are expecting to learn from mustard procurement. “We will be able to figure out whether the 50-50 farmer model is workable or we need to modify it for wheat,” said a top official. The officials said they have worked out a system to ensure that farmers affiliated to a particular arhtiya arrive with their produce at one particular centre. “This will save the commission agents from exhausting resources since every arhtiya will have an earmarked centre,” said an official.
E-GATE PASS
In order to regulate and stagger the procurement, the market committee will ensure that all produce —wheat, mustard and black gram — enters the mandi on the basis of online e-gate passes available only for registered and verified farmers. However, unregistered farmers have been asked to apply for registration up to April 19 on the Meri Fasal Mera Byora portal.
The market committee in consultation with the mandi association concerned will issue a daily schedule to invite registered farmers with their produce.
DEDICATED 24X7 HELPLINE
A dedicated 24x7 toll-free helpline, 1800-180-2060, will get operational by April 13 to address issues related to procurement, infrastructure and Covid-19. To minimise the health risk to those engaged in operations and ensure that the mandis do not become a node of transmission, market committees have been directed to follow the sanitation protocols and safety procedures such as social distancing.
