The efforts of state governments of Punjab and Haryana to meet the targeted production of paddy in a drought year will not go unrewarded. During his visit to review the ongoing procurement in Punjab today,Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar gave hope of compensating farmers through bonus and states through a special package. A decision on bonus for paddy will be taken by the cabinet next week. Since the chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and requested for compensation for purchasing extra power for paddy,a special package will be announced shortly in view of high cost of cultivation this year, Pawar said,while adding that the proposal could not be announced owing to model code of conduct during Haryana polls. He also hinted at advance announcement of a good minimum support price (MSP) for wheat to encourage farmers to make up for the shortfall in kharif production through rabi. Allaying fears of foodgrain shortage in the country,he said the overall stock position of the country is sufficient. Though there has been an additional demand from some states such as Karnataka,our wheat and rice buffer stocks and strategic reserves are good. We are trying to procure maximum paddy this year as the total area under the crop is down by 60 lakh acres. The revival of monsoon during the last month has been good for the crops and the Centre has written to the state governments to make efforts to meet the shortfall in kharif through the winter crop. The southern states have been requested to bring additional area under paddy during the rabi season and they are already doing so, Pawar added. Pawar,who visited the Rajpura and Khanna mandis today,said they are expecting to procure 85 lakh metric tones (MT) of rice for the central pool from Punjab despite deficient rains in the state. Last year,we procured 80 lakh MT rice for the central pool from the state,the highest in four-five years. We are hopeful of meeting the procurement target even this year, he said. Pawar said the millers have been allowed relaxation of four per cent on discolouration and damage for paddy for 2008-09 and 2009-10. He,however,was non-committal on dues being claimed by the state. The list includes additional one per cent infrastructure cess,incidental and transport charges for paddy,compensation for 7.61 lakh wheat damaged in the custody of state procurement agencies owing to longer storage and bank interest. I am not aware of the dues and will be able to comment only after I see the list, Pawar said. Officials present at union ministers meeting with the state government said the issue of dues was not raised by the state today.
