Farmers face problems in selling mustard at MSP
When I approached the government purchase centre, staff there told me that I cannot sell my mustard crop on minimum support price as I have not uploaded the girdavari (a document that contains crop details) copy on the portal of marketing society during registration for selling the mustard crop
RAMESH CHAND MALAV, farmer
KOTA: Farmers wanting to sell their mustard produce on the minimum support price (MSP) in Hadoti region are facing practical problems due to which they are selling their crops in the open market at low prices suffering losses.
“When I approached the government purchase centre, staff there told me that I cannot sell my mustard crop on MSP as I have not uploaded the girdavari (a document that contains crop details) copy on the portal of marketing society during registration for selling the mustard crop,” said Ramesh Chand Malav (40), a farmer of Kurad village in Kota district, who tried to sell his 25 quintal mustard at the centre set up by the Kota cooperative marketing society at Bhamashah mandi.
He said he could not procure the girdavari copy due to a strike by the patwaris at the time of the registration. He sold his produce in open market at the mandi at Rs 3,400 per quintal against the MSP of Rs 4,200 per quintal decided by the government this year, thus suffering a a loss of Rs 800 per quintal.
The registration for mustard purchase commenced in the Kota division on March 7 and the procurement started f rom March 15. However, the farmers are paying price for the mismanagement of the government machinery. Malav alleged that the biometric system started by the government was creating problems.
“The biometric machine fails to register the thumb impression of elderly farmers whose impressions fade away due to agricul- tural work and old age.”
Satya Prakash (20), a farmer from Lahariya village in Kota district, said that he also could not register during the given period. “I have to sell my 11 quintal of mustard at just Rs 3,421 per quintal,” he said.
Farmers are also unhappy with the maximum limit of mustard purchase by the government agencies. Chauthmal Nagar, another farmer of the district, said that the maximum p ur c hase l i mit s houl d b e increased from 25 quintal to 50 quintal, as the limit during the former BJP government’s rule was 40 quintal. “MSP will only benefit farmers when the government would buy at least 50 quintal of mustard from them,” he said.
Farmer organisations are demanding improvement in the management of mustard procurement.
“The state government should first restart the registration for mustard purchase, increase the purchase limit to 50 quintal and improve the biometric method,” said Dashrath Kumar, the general secretary of Hadoti Kisan Union (HKU).
Kota MP Om Birla alleged the mustard purchase by the Congress government is an eyewash, as the farmers are not able to sell their produce due to stringent norms and mismanagement. Former Ladpura MLA Bhawani Singh Rajawat threatened to lock officials in their offices and sit on a dharna “if government will not buy entire mustard of farmers on MSP.”
When asked about the allegations, Rajasthan Agricultural Cooperative Marketing federation (RAJFED) (give post) Tej Singh Nirvan said since the mustard purchase started on March 15 farmers have been issued tokens and given a week’s time to sell their produce.
“They are taking time and reaching purchase centres as per their convenience,” he said. “Farmers have not arrived in big numbers as they are busy drying up their harvested mustard,” he added.
He said the registration for the mustard purchase has not stopped and farmers can still register themselves.
He said the government has issued a latest order which allows the government purchase centre incharge to buy mustard from farmers after taking documents from them to testify their disability to give the thumb impression.
He said a total of 280 metric tonnes mustard has been bought on the MSP in Kota division.