48,000 quintals of mustard sold below MSP in Rewari as govt agencies play truant : The Tribune India

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48,000 quintals of mustard sold below MSP in Rewari as govt agencies play truant

REWARI: Even as the government agencies are yet to start procurement of mustard in the state, over 48,000 quintals of the crop have so far been sold to private buyers below the minimum support price (MSP) in the local grain market since March 15.

48,000 quintals of mustard sold below MSP in Rewari as govt agencies play truant

Heaps of mustard at the grain market in Rewari. A Tribune Photograph



Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Rewari, March 27

Even as the government agencies are yet to start procurement of mustard in the state, over 48,000 quintals of the crop have so far been sold to private buyers below the minimum support price (MSP) in the local grain market since March 15.

Sources said a considerable hike in the arrival of mustard was witnessed in the grain market on Monday following an assurance by the state government about starting procurement within one or two days. But farmers faced disappointment as they had to sell their produce at price much less than the MSP.

“Over 8,000 quintals of mustard arrived in the market today, which is over 25 per cent higher than the total arrival registered on Saturday. Though the state authority has sought the details about arrival of mustard per day and the rates at which the crop is being bought by private buyers, no information about procurement by the state agencies has been received yet,” said Satya Prakash, Secretary, District Agriculture and Marketing Board.

He said there was a bumper arrival of mustard this season. Nearly 13,000 quintals of the produce had reached the market till March 25 last year while the figure stood at 40,668 quintals this season. The arrival was likely to increase considerably in the coming days.

Satya Prakash admitted that private buyers were purchasing mustard at a price Rs 200-300 below the MSP, which had been fixed at Rs 3,700 per quintal. While 2 lakh quintals of mustard had reached the market last season, the quantity was likely to cross 3 lakh quintals this season.

“It is unfortunate that over 48,000 quintals of mustard have so far been sold at price much below the MSP due to failure of the state government in starting procurement. The government should compensate farmers for the loss they have incurred by selling their produce below the MSP,” said Ram Kishan Mehlawat, state secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS).

Meanwhile, various social organisations, including Gramin Bharat, Rashtriya Nav Chetna Manch and Sewa Bharti, extended their support to the farmers staging indefinite dharna under the aegis of the BKS outside the Mini-Secretariat here for the past five days.

Ved Prakash Vidrohi, chief of Gramin Bharat, asked the government to initiate mustard procurement immediately.

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