HAFED procures 5 lakh quintals of millets, 95K tonnes paddy, says Haryana

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has earlier issued directives to HAFED, a cooperative federation, to engage in commercial millet procurement. He has also directed to ensure that the payment of crop purchase should be credited directly into farmers’ bank accounts within 72 hours.

The millet procurement was originally scheduled to commence on October 1. However, taking into accpunt the early arrival of millet and the need to stabilize the market, HAFED initiated commercial millet procurement on September 23, the spokesperson said.

“HAFED is adhering to the Fair Average Quality (FAQ) specifications mandated by the central government. To date, HAFED has procured 5 lakh quintals of millet from over 16,000 farmers residing in 1,600 villages across 93 mandis or purchase centres in 17 districts of the state”, the spokesperson said.

HAFED also procures paddy at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) on behalf of the Food Corporation of India, with paddy procurement commencing on September 25. By September 28, HAFED had procured 95,000 MT of paddy from 9000 farmers out of a total procurement target of 2.80 lakh MT, the official stated.

HAFED has emerged as the largest state procurement agency in Haryana, actively procuring wheat, paddy, mustard, millet, sunflower, gram, and moong from farmers.

Farmers are urged to bring their millet and paddy produce to the mandis after proper cleaning and in compliance with the moisture limits specified by the central government to ensure a seamless procurement process, the spokesperson said.