Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar has approved the maize procurement plan 2018-19 and it will now be submitted for the approval before the Centre.About 10,000 tonnes of maize is likely to be purchased on minimum support price (MSP) fixed by the Government of India, said an official spokesman.The plan to procure maize on MSP will be submitted to the Central Government as per their coarse grain policy.He said the agriculture and farmers welfare department had initiated the sowing period of maize from June 25 to July 20 and harvesting is after three months.As per the policy of the government of India, for any commodity the period should not extend beyond three months and it should also not go beyond one month from the end of normal period of harvesting of the concerned crop in the state.Therefore, the Government of India has been requested to fix the period of procurement of maize from October 1 to November 15, 2018.He said that as per the plan, the procurement of maize would be made by the state government and its agencies as per their specifications fixed and policy guidelines of Government of India for the procurement of coarse grains.The spokesman said the area under cultivation and production of maize in the state is 0.06 lakh hectares and 0.19 lakh tonnes, respectively.About 80 per cent to 90 per cent of the total production would be market surplus, he added.The spokesman said maize would be procured in six mandis of the state where maize has been sow or cultivated.
