Slow procurement, lifting in Haryana mandis irks farmers

With the harvesting of the wheat at its peak and arrivals picking up pace, there is a glut in most of the mandis across Haryana, with farmers grappling with not only poor procurement but slow lifting, which has created a space problem

Annoyed by slow procurement and tardy lifting of wheat in most mandis in Haryana has left farmers a harried lot.

The farmers in the Kaithal district held a protest alleging that their wheat was not being procured by government agencies on the minimum support price (MSP). (HT Photo)

With the harvesting of the wheat at its peak and arrivals picking up pace, there is a glut in most of the mandis across the state, with farmers grappling with not only poor procurement but slow lifting, which has created a space problem.

“My wheat of four and a half acres was harvested two days ago but my artiya has asked me not to bring wheat in the mandi as there is no space and procurement is slow”, said Krishan Lal, a farmer who had come to see the arrangements at Ladwa mandi in Kurukshetra district.

The farmers in the Kaithal district held a protest alleging that their wheat was not being procured by government agencies on the minimum support price (MSP).

Protesting under the banner of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni), the farmers blocked the Jind-Kaithal road. The protesting farmers alleged that their wheat was not being procured and they are being harassed by government officials. Later, following an assurance from the officials, the farmers ended the protest.

Khattar, Hooda and Dalal visit Gharaunda mandi

Gharaunda grain market in Karnal district witnessed back-to-back visits by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, agriculture minister JP Dalal, and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Dalal visited the Gharaunda grain market hours before Hooda’s visit and gave instructions to the officials.

During his visit, Hooda expressed his displeasure over the slow procurement in the mandis and sought relaxation in the procurement norms.

Hooda alleged that due to the wrong policies of the government, the farmers are being victimized. “Earlier, mustard growers had to sell their produce below the MSP and now the wheat farmers were facing problems in selling their produce on MSP. The intention of the government is clear the government wants to harass farmers in the name of an online portal, higher moisture content and discolouring of grains. The farmers have reported the loss to around 17 lakh acres due to rains, but to date, the government’s committee had not collected the data of the damaged crops yet,” Hooda said.

He demanded that a compensation of ₹25,000 to ₹50,000 per acre should be given to farmers for crop loss, and a bonus of ₹500 per quintal should also be given on the MSP.

He said that farmers should be given relaxation in the limit of broken grains, small grains, moisture, lustre loss and discolouring.

Will procure every single grain, says Dalal

Haryana agriculture minister JP Dalal, who also visited the Gharaunda grain market, said that the government will ensure that the farmers do not face any problems in selling their produce, and the payment will be disbursed into the bank accounts of farmers within 72 hours of procurement.

Over the allegations of poor procurement, the minister said that due to unseasonal rains, wheat arriving in the mandis has higher moisture content but the state government has requested the Central Government for relaxation in the rules, which have been accepted. and now the farmer will not face any problem in selling his crop.

As per the officials monitoring procurement operations out of the total 6 lakh MT wheat that arrived in the mandis of the state till Monday, 3.21 lakh MT has been procured on the MSP by the government agencies.

A few hours after Hooda’s visit, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar also made a surprise visit to the Gharaunda grain market.

During the visit, the CM inspected the procurement operations and issued the required instructions to the officials to ensure hassle-free procurement of wheat. The CM said that around 10 to 20% loss has been reported due to rains and a special girdawari is underway. He said that the arrival of wheat in the mandis will also help to assess the crop damage.