Farmers Movement Archive

Precautions in place, Punjab begins exercise to procure 130 lakh tonnes wheat

Punjab on Wednesday started the massive two-month exercise to procure 130 lakh tonnes of wheat, in what can be termed as Asia’s biggest-ever commodity purchase.In view of the Covid-19 outbreak, the Punjab Mandi Board is ensuring disinfection of grain markets and yards, while labourers, farmers and staff of procurement agencies have been asked to wear masks and wash their hands frequently. Commission agents are using sanitisers and have made arrangements for drinking water and rest rooms for labourers. To limit crowding and ensure social distancing, the government is inviting a limited number of farmers through coupons, with permission to sell up to 50 quintals of wheat at their closest grain market.The coupons will act as a curfew pass for unhindered movement of the farmers’ loaded tractor-trolleys. In the wake of curfew restrictions, the state government has also increased the grain markets from 1,800 to nearly 4,000.On the first day, only 6,290 coupons were issued in the entire state. With the process of issuing coupons still picking up pace, several sellers across the state complained that they could not reach the grain markets. The government plans to issue 27 lakh coupons in a staggered manner till May 31, following which it will begin the process of shifting the procured crop to warehouses.₹19.25 FOR A KG OF WHEATPunjab, which contributes nearly 35% wheat to the national kitty, is buying the wheat for the central food agency — Food Corporation of India, which will further distribute it among different states for subsidised food under the public distribution system.The Government of India has fixed ₹1925 per quintal as minimum support price of wheat.The state government has asked the procurement agencies to ensure payment to farmers within 48 hours of procurement of their crop.“I harvested my crop last week and stocked it in my house. Now, I am here to sell the wheat using the coupon issued by my commission agent. Like other citizens, farmers are also cautious and are ensuring social distancing in the market,” said Gurmukh Singh, a farmer at a market in Rajpura.Another farmer Angrej Singh said as there were limited farmers present, he will be free by the evening. “After selling wheat, I will use my tractor to make straw husk, a dry fodder for animals, to make more money,” he added.The sold crop will be managed by the commission agents, who will handle the unloading, cleaning, packaging in sacks of 50kg and 30kg and then issuing the J-Form (crop sale form) to the farmers.“One Day 1, we have issued 6,290 coupons, followed by 17,995 coupons for Thursday and 41,337 coupons for Friday. The number of coupons will go up to 70,000 per day, depending on space in the markets and pace of harvest arrival. Punjab is committed to purchasing every single grain of harvest. We will complete it by May 31,” said KS Pannu, secretary, agriculture. While usually the process of procurement begins on April 1 and ends by first week of May, this time around, it was not only delayed by a fortnight, but will be staggered and conclude by the end of May. COUPON LIMIT HAS FARMERS WORRIED As the crop has ripened due to delayed procurement, farmers with big landholdings are a worried lot. “Each coupon allows sale of 50 quintals, which is yield of 2.5 acres. How will a farmer with bigger landholdings sell his produce? Worse, the commission agent are issuing only one coupon per farmer,” said Jagmohan Singh of Bhartiya Kisan Union. SCREENING FOR MOISTURE To ensure that only crop, which meets FCI specification, reaches the grain markets, the procurement agency staff are measuring the moisture content and returning consignments with higher moisture. “We have limited space. Thus, we can only accept the wheat meeting the specifications,” said a mandi board official.

Hindustan Times

15-04-2020

City