Farmers block highway in Ambala

Farmers today blocked the Ambala-Hisar and Ambala-Jagadhri national highway for several hours, protesting against non-procurement of paddy and non-payment of full Minimum Support Price(MSP) for the crop.
Procurement agencies are not lifting paddy citing higher moisture content, farmers alleged.
During the ongoing kharif marketing season, paddy arrivals contain moisture content in excess of 20 per cent while the permissible limit is 17 per cent, officials said here.
Farmers further alleged that they were not being given full MSP of their produce as rate was being reduced on the pretext of high moisture content, Bharti Kissan Union (BKU) president Baldev Singh, who was leading the protest, said.

Paddy growers claim they have been camping in the grain market for last four days but their produce was not purchased.
"I had no option but to sell my produce at low rates as the crop was not lifted," a farmer, Sukhbinder Singh, said.
Later on assurance by ADC Mukesh Ahuja that their produced would be purchased by tomorrow, the farmers lifted the blockade.
On October 8 also, farmers had blocked Ambala-Hisar national highway for three hours due to non-procurement of crop.