Procurement of sunflower seed to kickstart today

Vishal Joshi

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, June 10

In view of the distress sale by a section of sunflower growers, the state government has rescheduled procurement of oilseeds and decided to start purchase from Monday.

Ahead of the government purchase, farmers were selling sunflower seed to private buyers for Rs 3,000-3,200 per quintal. The minimum support price (MSP) for sunflower seed for the season is Rs 4,100, including Rs 100 bonus.

Anoop Nain, district manager of Haryana State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Limited (Hafed) — the official procurement agency for the crop, told The Tribune on Sunday that the state government would procure 2,400 metric tonnes (MT) of sunflower to meet the requirement of the Centre.

Earlier, the procurement was scheduled to commence from June 15. But the state government has directed to advance the purchase for the convenience of farmers, he said.

Nain said that this time, the entire procurement would be made through the e-Smridhi web portal.

In Haryana, Hafed procures oilseed for the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (Nafed).

Last year, 9,000 hectares in Kurukshetra, Ambala and Yamunanagar districts were under sunflower production.

This year, there is a dip of about 40 per cent in the area under sunflower oilseed in Haryana. Kurukshetra is a major producer of sunflower in the state and its area under oilseed cultivation has reduced this year to 7,700 acres from 13,400 acres in 2017.

Official sources said that last year’s tardy procurement had invited a sharp reaction from farmers who had stopped selling the produce to the government agency as a mark of protest.

The Bhartiya Kisan Union had led a protest in Kurukshetra against the Centre’s procurement rule under which only 25 per cent sunflower crop was to be purchased.

However, Chief Minister ML Khattar intervened in the matter and procurement began only after the farmers were assured of complete purchase from farmers.

Sources said this year, a sizeable section of farmers avoided sowing oilseed fearing a similar problem.

Dr Karamchand, deputy director, agriculture, said that the withdrawal of two popular seed varieties 64A57 and 6460 from the market by the parent company had impacted sunflower acreage.

“Assured procurement drove sunflower growers towards wheat cultivation. Also, a significant chunk of farmers switched to maize production,” said the expert.

Despite less acreage, a good average yield of 10 quintals from an acre is expected. This year, farmers have preferred seed varieties namely 5228, Subeej Srishti and Armani Gold, said the official.