Jagraon leads with 52% of total arrivals at Punjab mandis
SUMMER MOONG IS BEING PROCURED AT MSP (OF ₹7,275 PER QUINTAL) FOR THE FIRST TIME
CHANDIGARH: In a first, the Punjab government has started the procurement of summer moong crop at a minimum support price (MSP) of ₹7,275 per quintal directly from farmers. The Jagraon grain market in Ludhiana district leads in the state with the arrival of around 52% of the total crop, said a government spokesperson on Sunday.
Farmers in the state have sown moong over around one lakh acres this year as compared to 50,000 acres last year. With expected yield of five quintals per acre in between the wheat harvest and paddy cultivation, the farmers will get ₹36,000 as an additional income, the spokesperson said. In all, a yield of 4.75 lakh quintal is expected this season.
The spokesperson said this will also benefit the cultivation of short-duration varieties of paddy, expected to save 10-20% of underground water.
The state government has declared Markfed and cooperative societies as the state nodal agencies for the procurement and storage of moong and other logistics support for the marketing season. Likewise, the Punjab Mandi Board has notified 40 grain markets for procurement of moong till July 31, 2022.
The employees of Markfed and cooperative societies have been deputed in the notified mandis for procuring moong besides facilitating the farmers.
As per data available with the Punjab Mandi Board, 1,503 quintal moong crop arrived in various mandis across the state, of which 878 quintals have already been procured. While Markfed procured 663 quintals on MSP, 215 quintals were purchased by private agencies above MSP. Out of the total arrival across the state, 790 quintal arrived in Jagraon followed by 510 quintal in Barnala.
The state government has already implemented the DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) scheme for the crop procured on MSP and the payment thereof is being directly credited to the bank accounts of the farmers by the procurement agency Markfed, said the spokesperson.