Patanjali among pvt firms buying mustard below MSP: Farmers

ROHTAK: Private players, including yoga guru Ramdev’s Patanjali, have entered the mustard markets of Haryana and are procuring the crop below minimum support price (MSP) from farmers as the government is yet to start the procurement process.

Due to early onset of summers, the mustard crop has come in the markets. However, since government has not yet started procurement, farmers are forced to sell the produce to private buyers, below the MSP.

Farmers claim to sell their produce between ₹3,200 – ₹3,500 per quintal against ₹3,700 MSP, as fixed by the government.

To press for their demand of early procurement by government, Bhartiya Kisan Sangh, a farmers’ body, has been holding an indefinite dharna in Rewari from past six days. “On March 15, we submitted a memorandum to the government here, asking them to start early procurement this time as we were expecting an early crop. But nothing has been done. Even Ramdev’s Patanjali that bought mustard much higher than MSP last year is procuring at lower rates now. Farmers here have already sold over 50,000 quintal mustard below the MSP,” said Ram Kishan Mehlawat, Kisan Sangh secretary. According to sources, Patanjali has bought around 500 tonnes of mustard from Rewari grain market so far at a rate of ₹3,500 – ₹3,580. Last year, farmers claim they had bought 8,500 tonnes. “Patanjali is buying mustard in open market auction, paying as per the quality of the produce,” an associate with the company said.

Holding a review meet, CM said government agency Hafed was prepared to start procurement from April 1 onwards.

The officials, too, said every year the procurement begins in April only. They maintained that mustard present in the market currently had higher moisture content due to which the government had not started the process.

“Every year the procurement starts in April only. Mustard presently in the market has 15% moisture content, which is double of 6-8% at which the government procures. For wheat and paddy, procurement of moist crop can still be done as it will only reduce in weight once it dries up, but filling moist mustard in sacks can also ruin it,” Garg said.

The officials said mustard was mostly bought by private players only as it is mostly sold above the MSP. The government agencies start procurement only when the private buyers go below the MSP.