Bumper crop,but UP farmers sell wheat at lower prices

Along with experiencing a bumper wheat crop this season,farmers in Uttar Pradesh are also forced to sell their produce for as low as Rs 910 per quintal...

Along with experiencing a bumper wheat crop this season,farmers in Uttar Pradesh are also forced to sell their produce for as low as Rs 910 per quintal Rs 170 less than the Minimum Support Price of Rs 1,080 fixed by the Government.

In Bareilly and Shahjahanpur districts,the rates have fallen as low as Rs 910 and Rs 920 per quintal. Badaun is better off at a rate of Rs 960 and in districts like Bulandshahr,Meerut and Aligarh wheat is being sold at Rs 970 per quintal,claimed UP Roller Flour Millers Association president Pradeep Singhal.

This is due to the lack of government support,combined with a lack of awareness among farmers, explained association secretary V V S Chauhan,adding that the mandis in UP are not regulated like in Punjab and Haryana. In fact,traders come to UP to buy wheat directly from the farmers instead of paying the huge taxes at the mandis in Haryana and Punjab,he added.

Unlike Punjab,the UP farmers have small land holdings and prefer to sell their produce directly to traders in local mandis,even if this means lesser rates,than going through the rigmarole of taking their produce to government procurement centres. This way they save on transportation costs,explains Chauhan. He said this also benefits the traders as it is easier to transport wheat from UP to the Northeastern states and the Southern states.

However,officials claim the UP Government has set up procurement centres in almost all districts and farmers are encouraged to sell their produce there to avail the best prices. So far 4.25 lakh farmers have sold their produce at the procurement centres, said UP State Food Commissioner Kishan Singh Atoria.

The state has a total number of 4,409 wheat procurement centres,of which 3,901 are run by the state and the rest by the Food Corporation of India FCI.

The government has set a procurement target of 30 lakh metric tonnes this year,of which 20 lakh is to be procured at the state pool and 10 lakh at the FCI centres.

Story continues below this ad

The government records show the state Government centres have so far procured 15 lakh metric tonnes. The procurement figure this time last season was 7.78 metric tonnes.

The procurement at FCI centres,however,remains as low as 1.37 lakh metric tonnes till date. The reason for this is that the state Government has seven agencies involved in the job whereas FCI is operating it on its own. But we have enough time to meet the target as the last date for procurement is June 30, said an FCI official.

Even the state Government authorities confirmed that the procurement was expected to touch 35 lakh metric tonnes by the end of the season.