The arrival of Parmal paddy is picking up across Haryana, but procurement at the minimum support price (MSP) is struggling to keep pace, with high moisture in freshly harvested crop, shortage of active rice millers and pending stocks from the previous season leaving farmers facing delays and, in some cases, distress sales to private traders.
Merely half of the paddy crop that reached purchase centres in Haryana has been auctioned by the agencies.
According to the data uploaded on the e-kharid portal dashboard as of 7 pm on Tuesday, 8.92 lakh metric tonnes of crop arrived at 249 centers in 22 districts of the state. Of the total arrival, 45%, 4.02 LMT), of the crop has been auctioned for purchase by the three agencies: Food Corporation of India (FCI), Haryana State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Limited (HAFED) and Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC).
A maximum of 1.76 LMT of crop has been auctioned in Kurukshetra, one of the epicentres of farmer agitation demanding advance purchase of the crop due to an early maturing variety. The data also states that of the total auctioned, nearly 2.76 LMT of crop has been purchased by the agencies and ₹41.5 crore has been credited into the farmers’ accounts after lifting.
Due to tardy purchase and slow lifting, farmers have been staging protests in various parts of the state’s rice bowl belt, particularly in Karnal, Ambala and Kurukshetra.
{{/usCountry}}Due to tardy purchase and slow lifting, farmers have been staging protests in various parts of the state’s rice bowl belt, particularly in Karnal, Ambala and Kurukshetra.
{{/usCountry}}Even as the government agencies began procurement of paddy at MSP of ₹2,441 per quintal for common paddy and ₹2,461 for grade A fixed by the Centre, on September 29, but farmers and commission agents say purchases have remained below the pace of arrivals in several mandis, especially in the northern districts of the state. Since the government has fixed 17% as the maximum permissible moisture under fair average quality norms, farmers whose produce exceeds the moisture limit are being forced to either wait for it to dry or sell to private buyers at discounted rates.
Praveen Kumar, a farmer from Karnal’s Niolkheri said he sold produce from about six acres to private traders for ₹2,150- ₹ 2,275 per quintal against the MSP of ₹2461 because of higher moisture and lack of rice millers authorised by the government for procurement.
According to farmers the problem is being compounded by a limited number of rice millers participating in government procurement.Of nearly 1400 rice millers in the state, around 500 have joined the procurement operations so far as the government has made it clear that rice millers with pending stock of rice of last year will not be authorised to make procurements.
Millers say they are reluctant to participate because large quantities of custom-milled rice from the previous procurement cycle are still pending with the Food Corporation of India (FCI). Associations have put the pending quantity at around 2.5 lakh metric tonnes approximately. They have also raised concerns over unpaid milling, storage and transportation charges, besides new conditions such as higher fixed deposits and mandatory geo-fencing. The shortage of active millers has affected the agencies’ ability to allot and lift procured paddy quickly, adding to congestion in the mandis.
Following widespread protests, Karnal DC Anand Kumar Sharma reached Nissing mandi to inspect the purchase and faced numerous questions from farmers complaining about slow purchase, absence of millers, and an ‘illegal’ cut in the MSP of ₹2,441 per quintal.
Farmers showed ‘kachi parchi’ to Sharma, explaining the ₹2,060 per quintal and ₹2,100 per quintal rates given to some of them despite moisture content being below the prescribed limit of 17%. Speaking to reporters, the DC said that he came across several problems faced by the farmers and issued directions to officials to resolve them.
While talking to HT, All Haryana Rice Millers and Dealers Association president Hans Raj Singla said that all rice millers were ready to join the procurement but there was some issue with the pending CMR with around 300 rice millers in the state. About the delay in lifting, he said that this year the government has introduced a new OTP system for the lifting of procured paddy which is the root cause behind the delayed and tardy lifting.
On being contacted, a senior official said that decision about the pending rice will be taken after the chief minister will return from his foreign tour.
At Karnal new grain market, farmers Pratap Singh from Nalvi Kalan village said that he has been at the grain market since October 3, yet his paddy has not been procured. Similarly, Baburam, a farmer from Budhanpur Abad village, claimed that his paddy has a moisture content of 16% and he has been waiting in the market for seven days, but his crop remains unsold
Farmers’ organisations, however, have demanded relaxation of the moisture norm to 20-22%, arguing that many growers do not have adequate drying facilities. Bharatiya Kisan Union (Sir Chhotu Ram) spokesperson Bahadur Singh Mehla said strict enforcement of the 17% ceiling at the gate would leave farmers with little option but to sell at lower rates. Farmers have also complained about variations in readings recorded by digital moisture meters.
On being contacted principal secretary ,food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department Amneet P Kumar shared a statement saying that the government has made elaborate arrangements to ensure that every grain of farmers’ produce is procured at the minimum support price (MSP) and the procurement process is being continuously monitored, while necessary facilities have been ensured at the mandis for the convenience of farmers.