News Analysis India

Tag: wheat procurement

  • Centre allows 18 percent relaxation for shrivelled wheat from Punjab & Haryana; but procurement over

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH: The Centre has allowed relaxation in procurement norms for shrivelled wheat grains up to 18 per cent against the earlier specification of 6 per cent with any value cut for the central pool from both Punjab and Haryana.

    This, due to the abnormally high temperatures.

    A letter written on Friday by Vishwajeet Haldar, Deputy Commissioner (Storage and Research Division) in Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution to Secretary Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Punjab and Additional Chief Secretary Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Haryana states, “I am directed to a DO received from Punjab and Haryana seeking relaxation in the uniform specification of wheat for Rabi marketing season 2022-’23 due to the extreme, sudden and unprecedented heatwave in the state. In this regard, it is to convey that the matter has been examined  and in order to reduce the hardship of the farmers and to avoid distress sale  of what the competent authority has decided to accord the request of the state.’’

    “Accordingly it has been decided to procure wheat from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh (Union Territory) with the following relaxations in the uniform specifications of wheat for the central pool procurement. The limit of shrivelled grain and broken grains of wheat in all districts of Punjab and Haryana including   Chandigarh (Union Territory) may be relaxed up to 18 per cent against the existing limit of 6 per cent under uniform specifications with any value cut,’’ reads the letter.

    It further states, “the wheat so procured shall be stacked and accounted for separately. The relaxation granted is subject to the condition that any financial or operational implications due to this relaxation shall be sole responsibility of the state government of Punjab and Haryana including Chandigarh (Union Territory). Any deterioration of wheat stock procured under the relaxed scheme during storage shall has to be the sole responsibility of state governments.’’

    But interestingly the procurement in both states is over. While the wheat procurement this year by government agencies in Punjab till yesterday has been 96.15 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) against the target of 132 LMT and private traders purchased 6.09 LMT.

    A few days ago the Centre had ordered another fresh sampling of the shrivelled grain, another factor for the low yield this year. Sources said the grain across has shrivelled by 10 to 20 per cent as per the assessment of five Central teams.

  • Procure maximum wheat from farmers: Priyanka Gandhi to Uttar Pradesh government

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday urged the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure maximum procurement of wheat from farmers, saying if steps were not taken for it the produce would be ruined due to rain.

    The Congress general secretary said that in Uttar Pradesh, the last date for wheat procurement has passed and the government procurement of wheat from many farmers has not been done.

    “If ‘buying wheat from the last farmer’ was not a ‘jumla’ (rhetoric), then the BJP government should ensure maximum purchase by extending the date of wheat procurement,” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

    Otherwise the wheat of the farmers will be ruined due to the rain, she added.

    Gandhi on Monday had written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to flag the problems being faced by wheat farmers in selling their produce and demanded that the government should guarantee wheat procurement.

    In her letter to Adityanath, the Congress general secretary had said that there should be a guarantee on procurement of wheat from farmers at procurement centres till July 15.

    The procurement was scheduled to carry on till June 15.

  • Govt buys record 418.47 lakh tonne wheat at MSP for Rs 82,648 crore this year

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday said it has procured a record 418.47 lakh tonnes of wheat so far in the current marketing year that started in April, costing exchequer Rs 82,648 crore.

    The record procurement of wheat has been achieved amid farmers’ protests at Delhi borders since late November 2020.

    Farmer unions are demanding a repeal of three new farm laws and a legal guarantee of the Minimum Support Price (MSP).

    The Rabi marketing season (RMS) 2021-22 runs from April to March but the bulk of the procurement gets completed by June.

    “Procurement of Wheat in ongoing RMS 2021-22 is continuing smoothly in the procuring states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir at MSP, as was done in previous seasons,” an official statement said.

    Till June 8, the government has purchased 418.47 lakh tonnes of wheat as against 373.22 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous year.

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    “About 46 lakh farmers have already been benefitted from the ongoing RMS procurement operations with MSP value of Rs 82,648.38 crore,” the statement said.

    This year’s procurement has exceeded the previous high of 389.

    92 lakh tonnes achieved in the full 2020-21 marketing year.

    State-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI) is the nodal agency for procurement and distribution of foodgrains.

    Under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), the Centre provides 5 kg of wheat and rice per person per month to around 80 crore people at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 2-3 per kg.

  • Punjab prepared for wheat procurement, government sets up Covid-19 vaccination camps

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: To ensure seamless wheat procurement commencing from Saturday amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Punjab government has set up COVID-19 vaccination camps in all 154 market committees across the state.

    The camps are for inoculating persons above the age of 45 years visiting grain markets during the current rabi marketing season.

    Disclosing this here on Friday, Punjab Mandi Board Chairman Lal Singh said the mandi board is fully geared up to accomplish the task of wheat procurement amid the trying times of pandemic.

    Urging all the stakeholders to adhere to COVID-19 safety norms, the chairman said the state government is fully committed to procuring every single grain of wheat from the mandis.

    It is also committed to ensuring safety of farmers, labourers, arthiyas and officials of procurement agencies.

    The Punjab Mandi Board has also made arrangements to strictly observe health protocol by providing masks and sanitiser to its staff, Singh said.

    Besides, the mandi board has also arranged another one lakh masks and 35,000 litres sanitisers for providing to the farmers during their arrival in purchase centres.

    The chairman said that to avoid crowd and congestion in the mandis, the number of purchase centres has been increased from 1,872 to 4,000 with the target to procure 130 lakh tonnes (LT) of wheat.

    He said farmers were being asked to bring their produce in mandis in a staggered manner as a preventive measure to keep COVID-19 under check.

    Notably, during the previous rabi marketing season, the state government had procured 127.13 LT of wheat despite the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, and 17.51 lakh passes were issued to the farmers through arhatiyas.

    Meanwhile, the Punjab government issued an advisory on safe farming operations, including procurement and marketing.

    Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said coronavirus survives on environmental surfaces for a varied period of time, it gets easily inactivated by chemical disinfectants.

    He said farmers should prefer mechanised operations over the manual, wherever feasible.

    He added that only the essential number of persons should accompany the operator while using the machine for harvesting.

    All machines should be sanitised at the entry point and at regular intervals, he said.

    Sidhu also said it is compulsory that all the persons engaged in the operations should mask up at all times and ensure handwashing with soap at reasonable intervals.

    He added that the combine operator and his workers should always bear in mind that the appropriate social distancing is the key factor during the pandemic.

    He said that the transporter and his workers shall be advised not to indulge in any handshakes or hugs to greet each other.

  • Will purchase wheat from farmers under MSP till their stocks exhaust: UP govt

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: In a bid to allay farmers’ fears over the new farm laws, the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday announced that it will procure their wheat on hiked MSP till their stocks end.

    The wheat procurement by government agencies would commence on April 1 and would continue till June 15. The registration process for the framers interested in selling their crop opened on March 1 and so far, over 30,000 farmers have got themselves registered, a government spokesman said. 

    In its new Wheat Procurement Policy, the government said it had hiked the MSP for wheat by Rs 50. It is now Rs 1975 per quintal for 2021-22 against Rs 1925 per quintal last year.

    Under the new policy, the state government has fixed no target for wheat procurement. It will continue wheat purchasing on increased MSP till farmers have the stocks to clear their doubts regarding MSP.

    “Farmers are welcome to sell as much wheat as they want on MSP between April 1 and June 15,” said the spokesman.

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    He added that about 6,000 procurement centres would be set up across 75 districts of the state. An app was also being developed to make the information about procurement centres available to farmers, he further said.

    The spokesman said that efforts would be made to keep the procurement process free from the middlemen. “For this purpose, the government has made registration mandatory for farmers on the portal of the food and civil supplies department. Those who are already registered need not apply again,” he added.

    The revenue department will verify farmers who are willing to sell more than 100 quintals of wheat on MSP to the government. For the first time, entire wheat purchasing will be done through e-Pos machines after taking thumb impressions and providing receipts to farmers to keep middlemen out.

    The state government has already begun a training session for employees being engaged in wheat procurement to make them aware of the new procurement policy and handling e-POS machines, portal, and tabulation works. The training will end by March 20.

  • Uttar Pradesh govt to purchase wheat directly from farmers under MSP

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh government will purchase wheat directly from farmers from April 1 to June 15 under the Minimum Support Price Scheme.

    The wheat purchase will start from April 1 on the fixed minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 1,975 per quintal this year, Uttar Pradesh Food Commissioner Manish Chauhan said in an official statement.

    For selling wheat, it will be mandatory for farmers to register on the website of the Department of Food, which has been started.

    Farmers can register themselves on their own or through cyber cafes and public convenience centres, he said.

    He said a total of 6,000 purchasing centres are proposed this year, including those of the Food Department and other purchasing agencies, where wheat will be procured from farmers.

    The purchasing centres will operated from 9 am to 6 pm.

    For the convenience of farmers, online token system has been arranged this year under which farmers will be able to get tokens for the sale of wheat at the purchasing centre as per their convenience, he said, adding that the geo tagging of the purchase centres is being done by the remote sensing application center to help farmers get the location and address of the centres easily.

    For ensuring transparent procurement, wheat procurement will be done through ‘Electronic Point of Purchase’ and the facility of nominee has also been arranged for the convenience of the farmers.

    If a farmer is unable to come to the purchasing centre himself, he can nominate a member of his family.

    The nominated member will have to be mentioned in the registration form.

    Aadhaar authentication of the nominated member will also be done, he added.