Haryana govt to purchase maize on MSP: CM

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today said that after restarting the process for the purchase of bajra and sunflower seeds on minimum support price, it has now been decided to purchase maize also on MSP.
Bajra and maize purchased on MSP would be used for public distribution system (PDS) stock, he added.
Khattar was addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of new cooperative sugar mill here.
He said with the setting up of a new cooperative sugar mill, 60 lakh quintals of sugarcane would be crushed during the crushing season besides generating 15 MW of electricity.
Out of the total electricity produced by this mill, 10.50 MW would be sold to power utilities which would generate an additional income of Rs 15 crore to the sugar mill, he said.

While describing today as a historical day for the people of the area, the chief minister said that a sum of Rs 225 crore would be spent on this mill and it would benefit the farmers of 232 villages of Karnal and Panipat districts where sugarcane cultivation has been done over 20,000 acres this year.

This sugar mill would be made operational within one-and-a-half year, the chief minister added.
He said that new sugar mill would have a capacity of 3,500 tonnes of cane per day (TPD) where crushing of 60 lakh quintals of sugarcane would be made thus benefiting the farmers of the area in a big way.

The CM said this new sugar mill would be different from other mills as sugar produced in this mill would be more refined.
He further said the state government has prepared a scheme to achieve the target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make double the income of farmers by the year 2022.
Khattar said that capacity of all those sugar mills would be enhanced which are running under-capacity in the state.
The sugar mill at Panipat would be shifted to a new place and its capacity would be enhanced up to 5,000 MCD, he said.
Similarly, the crushing capacity of 1,600 tonnes of sugarcane per day of Sonipat sugar mill would be enhanced to 2,200 tonnes of sugarcane per day, the CM said.

This would help in increasing the sugarcane cultivation and also prevent the farmers from distress sale, he said.
The government is making efforts to ensure that the farmers earn income of Rs one lakh per acre, Khattar added.
He said that the state government is giving sugarcane rate of Rs 330 per quintal which is highest in the country. The CM said with a view to ensure that the farmers sell their produce online in any part of the state and on remunerative prices, the state government has made 54 mandis online whereas the remaining 54 mandis would soon be made online.

Khattar also exhorted the farmers to switch over to micro irrigation to flood irrigation to save water and added that the subsidy on micro irrigation has been increased from 60 per cent to 80 per cent.
He also listed out various other schemes implemented for the welfare of farmers including Bhavantar Bharpai Yonja and Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.