UP govt to start crop procurement from Apr 2

The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday announced that the procurement of mustard, gram and lentils (masoor) will start from April 2 on the minimum support price (MSP).

All necessary arrangements are being made for the purchase. The government will buy 2.64 lakh metric tonne mustard, 2.01 lakh metric tonne gram and 1.21 lakh metric tonne lentil on the MSP from farmers.

The procurement will take place for 90 days, the UP government said in a statement issued here.

"The February-March season was extremely unpredictable in the current Rabi season. Due to heavy rains and hailstorm, farmers' crops have been damaged in many places. In an effort to ensure that farmers, whose crops have been damaged, must get the sum assured within the stipulated time the government has instructed the insurance companies to compensate the farmers for their loss in time," the statement said.

District magistrates have been instructed to issue passes to the employees of the Department of Agriculture and Revenue along with the insurance company for this survey work, it added.

So far, applications from about 90 thousand farmers have come to insurance companies.

Referring to potato, the UP government said, this year it (potato) has also adversely affected due to unseasonal rains.

Some crops have been harvested, the rest is still in the field.

Farmers are not even digging out the potatoes due to confusion over access of potatoes to cold storage due to the lockdown.

According to information received from the horticulture department, the process of sanitising all cold storage is going on.

"There will be no problem in storage and extraction of potatoes. Instructions have been given to all DMs to allow labourers engaged in this process to work," the statement said.