Haryana gears up for wheat procurement

The Haryana government has sought a cash credit limit of Rs 7,373 crore from the Reserve Bank of India for purchase of wheat in this rabi season.

According to the Food and Supplies Department of the state, wheat procurement season was notified to begin from April 1 and was to be ended by May 31. The staff of the procurement agencies were asked to be present in the Mandis from April 1.

Now, the arrangements are being made for smooth procurement of wheat during the Rabi season-2011.The crop of about 6.5 million tonnes (mt) is likely to arrive in Mandis this year. Last year, 6.3 mt wheat was procured in the state The Minimum Support Price (MSP) for wheat had been fixed at Rs 1,120 per quintal. As many as 367 mandis or purchase centres had been set up for the procurement of wheat. It would be ensured that Mandis were equipped with all basic amenities, such as drinking water, electricity, pucca platform, sheds and parking place. Farmers would not have to travel more than one km to sell their produce, told a senior official.

He said the Food and Supplies Department and HAFED would purchase 30 per cent and 35 per cent of wheat arrived in the Mandis respectively. Similarly, Food Corporation of India would purchase ten per cent and Haryana Warehousing Corporation nine per cent wheat. Haryana Agro Industries Corporation and CONFED would purchase eight per cent each of the total arrival of wheat in the Mandis.

He added, the procurement agencies would ensure that the farmers did not in any way get price lower than the MSP and the farmers do not resort to any distress sale of their produce. He also appealed to the farmers to bring their produce in Mandis dry and clean so that they might not face any difficulty in selling their produce.

The Minister said that the Food and Supplies Department would set up control rooms at the State headquarters and district headquarters well before the commencement of the season. Similarly, the procurement agencies would also set up their own control rooms at their State headquarters as well as district headquarters. The procurement agencies would communicate information about the procurement to the control rooms of the Food and Supplies Department on day-to-day basis. The Food and Supplies Department in turn would also communicate the procurement information to Government of India on day-to-day basis, he added.