MP registers record wheat procurement
Buoyed up with its record procurement of wheat at nearly 5 million tonne (MT), the state government has chalked out a plan to book wheat procurement from the next rabi season. The wheat growers will now need to send an SMS or a text message on a particular mobile number indicating the quantity they wish to sell to government agencies. It is also planning to introduce e-payment system to all wheat growers of the state. However it will put a check system by verifying land records of each farmer.
The populist decision to put more than Rs 5,300 crore in wheat procurement this year with Rs 100 per quintal bonus, has put Madhya Pradesh among the top three states in India — besides Punjab and Uttar Pradesh — to record such high wheat procurement.
“Madhya Pradesh is the first to procure this huge quantity at its own, unlike other states where Adhatyias still work, we are planning land record verification and instating e-payment from next year. More importantly, farmers can book the quantity through an SMS (short message) on mobile phone to government agencies for the next rabi season that begins from March one,” said a senior government official.
This scheme was launched in two districts of the state, Harda and Bhind. At present, state marketing federation and state civil supplies corporation procure wheat from farmers. Though no proper data is available from private procurement companies like ITC, Cargill and Hind Lever, insiders in agriculture department told Business Standard, “Procurement at private mandis have slipped to 100,000 tonne or less against 500,000 tonne few years back as the state is offering higher prices for wheat. Few years back during 2008, the state wheat procurement stood at 500,000 tonne.”
Farmers like Gulab Singh in nearby Bhaukhedi village could not fetch better price at ITC run e-choupal this year as quality of Sujata and C-306 also known as Sharbati was inferior. “Only government mandis offering better prices,” he said.
Market sources said, private players have skipped lifting wheat from state farmers and mandis as state government has raised minimum support prices. As a result they are procuring wheat from neighbouring states like Uttar Pradesh where wheat prices are as low as Rs 950 per quintal against Rs 1,150-1,200 per quintal in Madhya Pradesh. The private players till last year picked up 500,000-700,000 tonnes of wheat from the state.
Madhya Pradesh grows varieties like Lok-1, Sharbati and Durum varieties of wheat on an area of 10.2 million hectares. The MP varieties are high in protein contents and palatable. Sharbati is procured, processed and exported to countries where it is used in pasta and atta bread making.
PROBLEM OF PLENTY
Problem of plenty coupled with high transportation cost has put the state government in a fix as handling and storage of the estimated record high production of wheat in Madhya Pradesh seems to be a Herculean task for authorities.
Several rounds of meetings over the issue turned futile as procurement of 4.9 MT of wheat is in excess of existing warehousing capacity of 4 MT. State-owned warehouses, godowns, covered caps are full this year. The state warehousing capacity of 35 MT of wheat has exhausted, remaining 500,000 tonne in arrangement with some private partners will also be exhausted soon.
Private players are turning hostile at the rates government is offering them for wheat storage. Transporters are also demanding more haulage in view of the expected hike in diesel prices. Private players in the market, but they have also refused “as it is too late” for them to accommodate the quantity which may cross more than 1 million this year. Insiders in the government have informed Business Standard, “For the first time wheat production and procurement have gone beyond capacity, even old non-operating cinema houses are full.”
Speaking to Business Standard, Farmers welfare and agriculture development minister Ramkrishna Kusmaria admitted and said, “This year wheat production is expected to cross 12.5 MT in state. Further central government has enhanced the procurement target from 3.5 MT to 5 MT and it can go up to 5.5 MT. We are facing difficulty in arranging warehouses for this excess quantity. We can comfortably make arrangements up to 4 MT.”
State has 250 mandis which are now out of warehousing capacity.