Hafed opens 43 purchase centres for mustard seed procurement

To facilitate mustard seed growers in Haryana, Hafed has opened 43 purchase centres in 13 districts of the state for procurement of the seed at minimum support price (MSP), a minister said.

Thirteen purchase centres were opened for the procurement of mustard seed last year, Haryana's Minister of State for Cooperation, Manish Grover said.

He said the Haryana State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Limited (Hafed) has purchased 54,564 quintal mustard seed till Wednesday directly from farmers through the shops of its member Cooperative Marketing Societies against which payment of Rs 10.35 crore has already been released.

The payment to farmers is being made electronically through RTGS to their bank accounts, he said in an official release here.

Hafed is procuring mustard seed at MSP of Rs 4,000 per quintal, including a bonus of Rs 100, under the Government of India's Price Support Scheme (PSS) on behalf of NAFED.

This procurement of mustard seed, which started from March 15, would continue till May 10, he said.

He expressed his satisfaction over the preparations made by Hafed for the smooth procurement of the mustard seed and assured that it shall efficiently carry out this purchase in the best interest of the farmers of the state.

However, countering the state government's claims, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said mustard is not being procured at the MSP.

"The government has imposed several conditions for the procurement of mustard crop....the farmers are forced to sell their mustard for Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,200 per quintal against the MSP of Rs 4,000 per quintal," Hooda said.