Maize producers not getting MSP for crop

Farmers cultivating maize are being exploited in the local grain market. The state government has fixed the MSP of maize at Rs 2,400 per quintal from this season whereas it has been procured in the market at less than half of the MSP. The crop is being procured by private firms as there is no government agency deputed to procure the maize. It is worth noting that the area under maize increased from 18,000 acre last year to 30,000 acre this year. Moreover, Tarn Taran is the only market where private firms came to procure maize. As a result, farmers from Amritsar and Kapurthala districts too come to sell their produce here.

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On Monday, Charanjit Singh, a maize cultivator from Yodha Nagri (Tarsikka, Amritsar) who came with his one-acre crop, said that his produce had been procured at the rate of just Rs 1,000 per quintal while Mangdeep Singh from Bhrowal, who came to the market with his two acres of crop, said he has been given the rate of Rs 1,050 per quintal. Meanwhile, Palwinder Singh from Bania village who brought his four-acre produce, said that he has been given Rs 1,360 per quintal while Sarwan Singh of Bharowal informed that he was given an MSP of Rs 1,405 for his two-acre produce. The farmers alleged that they were being exploited in the Tarn Taran market and demanded that farmers who have not been given the MSP on maize must be given compensation by the state government.

It was a matter of some concern that farmers have to wait for three to four days for the purchase of their produce.

Mandi Supervisor Amrinder Singh said that till date, as many as 33,000 bags of maize have arrived in the mandi since the starting of the season and disclosed that maize has been procured at a price ranging from Rs 1,450 to Rs 2,400 on Monday in the mandi.