Rain drenches wheat, mustard in Haryana mandis
Wheat and mustard lying in the open in the mandis of various district of Haryana, including Rohtak, Bhiwani, Hisar, Charkhi Dadri and Jhajjar, got drenched after the rain on Saturday and Sunday. A glut-like situation in almost all mandis; Hooda says government should compensate farmers under Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana
Wheat and mustard lying in the open in the mandis of various district of the state, including Rohtak, Bhiwani, Hisar, Charkhi Dadri and Jhajjar, got drenched after the rain on Saturday and Sunday.
Farmer leader Dayanand Punia, who is the state secretary of the All-India Kisan Sabha, said farmers are facing problems in unloading wheat and mustard in the mandis of Bhiwani, Hisar, Dadri and various other districts due to space crunch.
“Less than 10% of the procured wheat and below 20% of procured mustard have been shifted to godowns. A glut-like situation is witnessed in almost all mandis. The situation is so grim at Madina village in Rohtak that farmers and commission agents were forced to keep wheat at the village cremation ground as there was no space in the village grain market and both government schools.
Sanjay Dangi, a farmer from Madina village, said there is no space in the mandi, and the situation is worse after the rain lashed the area.
“The authorities have failed to ensure the lifting of grains. Farmers do not have enough space to keep the grains, so they directly brought the produce to mandi from their fields. The village mandi can store only 20,000 bags,” he added.
Meham MLA Balraj Kundu on Sunday visited the Madina mandi and accused the purchasing agents and officials of taking money from farmers and commissions per bag for lifting their produce first.
“The shortage of bags, a smaller number of labourers, more produce and delay in farmers’ registration are the reasons behind poor lifting in mandis. I had talked to the authorities and the agriculture minister but to no avail,” he added.
Sonu Kumar, a farmer from Behal in Bhiwani, said bags of mustard are lying in the mandi and the handling agents and procurement agencies have failed to ensure proper lifting of the produce.
“There is no space left and farmers are waiting to sell their produce in government mandi as the price of mustard in the open market has fallen,” he added.
Haryana agriculture minister JP Dalal said that action will be taken against the officials concerned and purchasing agencies if wheat and mustard are not lifted timely from mandis.
“An order has been marked to check the mustard stocks in mills as it seems that some people are stocking the produce. Mustard arrival has reduced as compared to the Covid period and this raises doubt. Physical verification has been ordered,” he added.
The Leader of Opposition and former chief minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who visited several mandis in Sonepat, Rohtak and Hisar, said farmers are forced to sell their produce ₹500-1,000 per quintal less in the open mandis and the government should compensate them under the Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana.
“The process of wheat lifting is going on at a snail’s pace and farmers are forced to keep their produce on roads due to paucity in mandis. The government’s claim of giving payment within 72 hours is false and it is unfair for the government to make cuts for luster loss. The government should give ₹500 bonus per quintal to wheat growers,” he added.