It has been almost a fortnight since farmers who have grown a hybrid variety of paddy brought their produce to grain markets of the area. But no procurement agency is ready to buy this,citing one reason or the other. And even if a small amount is picked up,the price the farmers are getting is Rs 100 below the minimum support price (MSP),it is learnt. As a result,the hybrid variety,6129,is piling up at the markets of Muktsar,Malout and Gidderbaha. Angrez Singh,a farmer from Kot Bhai who claims to have been sitting in the mandi for the last 15 days,says: This seed was sold to us by a private company,but now no agency is ready to buy the harvested crop. The agencies say this variety is not approved by the government. But then why does the government allow a private company to come and sell its seed in Punjab? Another farmer Kewal Singh says: Some agencies complain that the paddy that we have brought is blackish or is wet and hence it is rejected but the reality is that even the dry and good quality paddy is not being lifted. He adds: The government should not allow the farmers to grow something which it will not buy later. Some private millers have come forward to buy this variety but again they pay us Rs 100 lower than the MSP of Rs 1,130. This variety,however,has many takers in the neighbouring Bathinda grain market,around 30 kilometres from here. Local farmers complain that no one is ready to hear their problems now that their representative in the Assembly,Manpreet Singh Badal,has fallen out with the government. Had he been in power,our problem would have been solved immediately, says a farmer. Beant Singh,District Mandi Officer,Muktsar,admits that there is a problem. We have brought it to the notice of higher officials. Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Darabara Singh Guru,who visited the mandis recently,is also in the know of things and we are trying to sort out the issue, he adds. About the 6192 variety of paddy,Singh says,I am told a Delhi-based company had sold the seed here in Punjab and it is suited for areas where the water quality is bad and the areas that are waterlogged. Many parts of the southwestern districts are waterlogged,while in some parts the water quality is brackish. This variety can be grown in such areas,but neither the Punjab Agricultural University,nor the state government has approved this variety. There are,hence,no buyers for it.
