The Centre on Tuesday said 16,420 tonnes of paddy worth Rs 31 crore has been procured at minimum support price (MSP) in the last 72 hours from farmers in Punjab and Haryana, while procurement has just commenced in other states. With the latest procurement data, the government aims to send a message to farmers protesting against new farm laws that it has no intention of scrapping procurement at MSP.
Farmers in Punjab and Haryana and several other states are protesting against the new farm laws, which they feel will lead to procurement in the hands of corporates and the end of MSP regime. The Union Agriculture Ministry, in a statement, said arrival of kharif crops has just begun and the government continues to procure 2020-21 kharif crops like paddy at MSP from farmers as per the existing schemes.
Paddy procurement commenced from September 26 in Punjab and Haryana, while it started on September 28 in other states. In Punjab and Haryana alone, about 16,420 tonnes paddy at MSP of Rs 1,888 per quintal, totalling Rs 31 crore, has been procured up to September 28, it said.
Of this, about 3,164 tonnes paddy has been purchased in Haryana, while 13,256 tonnes in Punjab from 1,443 farmers, it added. For the current year, the government has fixed the MSP of paddy (common grade) at Rs 1,868 per quintal, while that of A grade variety has been fixed at Rs 1,888 per quintal.
The government has also given nod for procurement of 14.09 lakh tonnes of kharif pulses and oilseeds for Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Haryana under the Price Support Scheme (PSS). The approval to other states will be given on receipt of proposal under the PSS which gets operationalised if the mandi prices fall below the MSP in the notified harvesting period, the statement said.
Till September 29, the government, through its nodal agencies, has procured 46.35 tonnes of moong worth Rs 33 lakhs at MSP, benefiting 48 farmers in Tamil Nadu. Similarly, 5,089 tonnes of copra (the perennial crop) worth Rs 52.40 crore has been procured at MSP, benefiting 3,961 farmers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Cotton procurement will commence from October 1, it added.
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