Haryana registers 40% rise in market fee collection

The bumper wheat production in Haryana might have left procurement agencies in a fix hunting for storage space, but for the marketing board of Haryana, it has brought cheer.

The market fee collection of Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board (HSAMB) has registered a growth of 41 per cent during the first seven months of the year, a trend that can be attributed to the tremendous increase in wheat production.

Wheat arrival in Haryana during the year 2012-13 was 26 per cent higher compared to the corresponding period in 2011-12. Last year, the market fee collection by HSAMB stood at around Rs 409 crore.

 

Market fee is levied on sale and purchase of agriculture produce and is fixed at 2 per cent on wheat in Haryana. The fee, though applicable on agriculture produce includes fish, fodder, food grains, cotton and wool. The main source of revenue, however, comes from food grains i.e paddy and wheat. Haryana has a total of 106 grain markets across the state. The increase in market fee collection during the first seven months suggests the market fee collection by the state marketing board could surpass previous year’s income.

The rise in market fee collection is attributed to increase in arrival of wheat during the Rabi season 2012-13 and also due to the hike in supportive prices of wheat. Wheat, the major rabi crop of Haryana, saw a 26 per cent jump in arrival compared to the previous year.

Wheat arrival this year (2012-13) was registered at 8.65 million tonnes (MT) as against 6.86 MT registered last year. The minimum support price (MSP) for wheat was raised to Rs 1,260 per quintal for the year 2012-13 as against Rs 1,180 in the year 2011-12, a hike of Rs 80 per quintal.