MSP announcement for moong too late: Farmers

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 27

Even as the Agriculture Department and the state government claim that the Chief Minister’s promise to buy moong dal on minimum support price (MSP) has increased the area under its cultivation, the fact remains that the announcement in this regard was made on May 6 while as per the recommendations of the Punjab Agricultural University, the period for sowing the crop is from March 15 to April 20.

Amid the reports that farmers are unable to sell early-harvested moong crop on the MSP as the official procurement of the crop would begin after June 1, farmers claim that the government should have begun the procurement by now.

The moong is a crop which becomes ready for harvesting in nearly 65 days after sowing. Going by the PAU recommendations, if a farmer starts sowing moong on March 15, the crop would be ready for harvesting by May 20. While the MSP for moong is Rs 7,275 per quintal, in the absence of procurement by government agencies, the farmers are forced to sell the produce at Rs 6,200 per quintal.

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