Wheat procurement off to a slow start in UP
Only 16 MT of wheat bought from six farmers; private players offering a higher price
: Purchase of wheat by the government at the minimum support price (MSP) for procurement season 2022-23 got off to a slow start on Friday amid private players offering a higher price to farmers.
As per information sourced from the department of food and civil supplies, around 4,500 government procurement centres together purchased only 16 metric ton (MT) of wheat from half a dozen farmers across the state on the opening day of the procurement.
The first day wheat procurement this year is almost only one-third of the wheat bought on the first day on April 2, 2022, when all the government agencies collectively purchased 46 MT of wheat from less than a dozen farmers.
“The first day wheat procurement last year was comparatively much higher despite the fact that the second wave of Covid-19 started peaking towards March-end,” said a senior official.
“The government wheat procurement this year is expected to be lower because wheat price in the market is higher than the MSP. This is because there is shortage of wheat in the international market due to RussiaUkraine conflict. With the two prominent wheat exporters engaged in war for more than a month, India has increased wheat exports to other countries,” the official explained.
The Centre has fixed the wheat MSP for the current year at Rs 2,015 per quintal while private players, it is said, are offering much higher rate (Rs 2,200-2,500 per quintal) to farmers apart from making instant cash payments unlike government agencies that are often accused of making delayed payments besides creating other hurdles. The UP government has fixed a target of procuring 60 lakh MT of wheat this year. The government purchased a record around 58 lakh MT last year after it pulled out all stops to purchase as much wheat from as many farmers as possible in what was seen as a bid to blunt the edge of the farmers’ agitation against the Centre’s three laws. Farm unions were also expressing apprehensions that the government was conspiring to eliminate the MSP system.
“The government may not be required to put in so much efforts and resources to buy wheat from farmers this year because most farmers would like to sell their produce to private players for a better price than the MSP, if the price of wheat continues to be higher in the open market,” said another official. “It’s good if farmers get a better price in the market and our job is to ensure that they do not have to sell their produce below the MSP,” he added.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, in the meantime, issued directions to the officials, asking them to ensure that the money for the procurement of wheat be transferred to the farmers’ bank accounts within 72 hours of crop procurement.
“Officers should make all necessary arrangements for the procurement of wheat in their respective districts so that farmers do not face any problem,” said the CM while chairing a high-level meeting here, a government spokesman said.
So far, over 148383 farmers had registered themselves for selling their produce to government agencies. The CM, according to the spokesman, also directed the officials to ensure timely lifting of the crop from the mandis and make all necessary arrangements for the farmers in the mandi.
Procurement of wheat is being done by the food and civil supplies department, UP Cooperative Federation (PCF), UP Cooperative Union Ltd (PCU), Mandi Parishad, UPSS among others under the MSP Scheme.
It’s good if farmers get a better price and our job is to ensure that they do not have to sell their produce below the MSP AN OFFICIAL