Procurement of mustard will continue till entire crop of farmers is procured: Haryana Minister

Haryana's Agriculture Minister J P Dalal on Thursday said the procurement of mustard by government agencies in the state will continue till the entire crop of farmersis procured.

He assured farmers that the money would be sent to their account within three days of purchase.

While mustard crop procurement began in Haryana on April 15, wheat will be procured from April 20.

Dalal said that due to COVID-19 pandemic, the procurement centres have been set up outside mandis so that farmers can sell their crops while maintaining social distance.

He said that mustard is being procured at minimum support price of Rs 4,425 per quintal as fixed by the government.

Dalal, according to an official statement, said that initially there were problems in some places because farmers had registered for more acres on the portal 'Meri Fasal Mera Byora', but received messages stating less acreage.

He said, however, in the interest of farmers, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar decided that mustard will be procured according to the acreage that the farmer had registered on the portal and not as per the messages they received.

Dalal said that farmers are being called to sell their crop through messages on their phones after being allotted a particular time so as to avoid crowding at procurement centres.

He said about 6.5 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of mustard was procured in Haryana last year, but this time around 8-9 lakh MT of the crop is expected to be procured.

The Agriculture Minister also said that mustard is grown mainly in south Haryana, and he would inspect 15-20 procurement centres in Gurugram, Rewari, Jhajjar, Bhiwani, Hisar and Sirsafor three days from April 17.

Inspection will be conducted for taking stock of the arrangements there, he added.

Wheat procurement in the state will start from April 20 and 80-90 lakh MT of wheat is expected to be procured this year.

Meanwhile, Additional Chief Secretary Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare and Cooperation Department, Sanjeev Kaushal said a total of 33,331 metric tonnes of mustard has been procured in the state in the first two days of procurement.