Sunflower farmers elated as crop fetches rates above MSP
(KURUKSHETRA): Avtar Singh, an elderly farmer from Kurukshetra’s Padlu village, is elated. For the first time in many years, he has been able to sell sunflower seeds above the minimum support price (MSP).
Of the 35 acres under sunflower crop, he has harvested 10 acres so far and has been able to sell the produce at Rs 6,300 per quintal to private traders against the government’s MSP of Rs 5,885.
Another farmer, Mandeep Singh of Langar Chhanni village of Kurukshetra said earlier sunflowers growers had to face a lot of trouble while selling the crop. “We even had to sit on protest and block road several times to sell our produce to government agencies on MSP. But for the first time in many years, sunflower seed is being sold above the MSP,” he said.
According to farmers, this is the best year for oilseed growers as earlier mustard also fetched Rs 1,000-1,500 more than the MSP of Rs 4,650.
“I had also sold mustard at around Rs 1,500 than the MSP in April. Now, I have grown sunflower on this land and am expecting to earn around Rs 1.20 lakh per acre from both the crops within a period of eight months,” said Mandeep.
He said after harvesting sunflower, he will grow paddy and the third crop will be harvested in October.
Though government agencies also started procuring sunflower seed on MSP from June 1, farmers are not interested in selling their produce to them.
“We are ready to procure but why will the farmers sell their produce to government when private agencies are paying them more?” said Vijay Dhillon, HAFED’s manager at Shahbad grain market.
Interestingly, most farmers, commission agents and officials of government’s procurement agencies are not aware of the reasons behind the sudden jump in prices of oil seeds. Many farmers and arhtiyas believe that the hike is temporary as the government is trying to woo the farmers. The farmers believe that the prices have jumped only because they have MSP otherwise the private traders will force farmers to sell their produce at lower rates. “In absence of government support, farmers cannot get good price. That is why vegetable growers are being forced to sell their produce at negligible prices,” said Krishan Kumar, a farmer from Shahbad.
As per the figures of state government, sunflower is grown on around 15,500 hectares in the state and this year, the government has set a target of procuring 13,784 MT of sunflower seed at the eight purchase centers set up in Kurukshetra, Ambala and Panchkula districts.
“Around 8,400 farmers have registered themselves on the Meri Fasal Mera Bayora portal to sell their produce to the government. But we don’t think that the farmers will sell it to government till they are getting more than the MSP,” said a senior official from Hafed. However, oilseed traders said the skyrocketing prices of edible oil is behind the rise in prices of all oil seeds. According to them, this may last for a few more months.