The Uttar Pradesh government has allowed agents to procure wheat, while also favouring bulk purchase by private companies to maximise farmers’ income and check any distress sale.
The government feels this would induce competition in the procurement process and ensure payment of minimum support price (MSP) to farmers.
Recently, a private company was permitted to procure 50,000 tonnes of wheat and other companies were also in talks with the government.
The agents registered with the different ‘mandi samitis’ would be eligible for procurement along with state agencies. They would function as ‘sub agents’ of the state food department marketing cell.
The agents would be entitled to 2.5 per cent commission to be paid by the government. However, the government would procure wheat from these agents only when they pay farmers through account payee cheques.
So far, about 525,000 tonnes of wheat have been procured in UP at 4,884 procurement centres and Rs 650 crore has been paid to farmers.
Recently, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had reviewed the availability of silos for procurement. The current stock of silo was said to be sufficient for 870,000 tonnes of the rabi crop. From May 5, the state would start receiving fresh supply of silos from Kolkata to supplement the procurement process.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that farmers were being harassed at the procurement centres. Its spokesperson Manoj Mishra claimed the farmers were getting only between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,100/quintal against the MSP of Rs 1,285, and blamed it on a “nexus” between officials, middlemen and traders.
He said the farmers were duped into distress-selling their produce to agents and middlemen through deceptive measures of scarcity of storage space, paucity of silos and measurement scales.
This year, UP is targeting procurement of 4.2 million tonnes of wheat even as the wheat production is pegged at about 31.5 mt. The corresponding figures of 2010 and 2011 were 27.5 mt and 29 mt respectively. Similarly, wheat acreage this year has been estimated at 9.7 million hectare (mh) vis-à-vis 9.6 mh last year.
In fact, a major portion of wheat is retained by farmers for personal consumption, while the remaining comes to market.
During the 2011-12 crop year (July-June), UP is looking at record foodgrain production of 51 mt, which would be 3.7 mt more than last year, when total production had touched 47.3 mt and the state was feted for the highest production figures.
