Sugarcane farmers reluctant to register crops on govt portal
Parveen Arora
Tribune News Service
Karnal, August 1
Sugarcane farmers in the district are showing reluctance in registering their crops on the “Meri Fasal Mera Byora” (MFMB) portal, a state government initiative aimed at ensuring transparency and providing various benefits to farmers on the sale of their produce.
Despite regular efforts by the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, farmers remain reluctant. As per official data, 12,524 acres has been registered so far, whereas the total sugarcane cultivation area spans nearly 40,000 acres in the district. Several farmers, especially those who have leased fields, have cited significant challenges in the current registration process. They said the registration system mandates a one-time password (OTP) for verification, which is sent to the field owner's registered mobile number, often causing delay and complications.
“The OTP is sent to the field owner's number. If the owner is busy or unable to share the OTP promptly, the registration gets delayed,” said Kewal, a sugarcane farmer.
An official revealed that the government mandated MFMB registration for sugarcane sales last year, but the poor response forced the government to retract the directive. This year, the authorities have made the registration of crops on the MFMB portal mandatory, emphasising that only registered farmers will be eligible for sugarcane procurement.
Hunny, another farmer, said farmers were hoping that the online registration process would be rolled back just like the last year. However, sources claimed the main reason behind the reluctance was the unholy nexus between arhtiyas, farmers and officials for illegal sale of paddy from other states in Karnal. They said certain arhtiyas in the district pay farmers for registering paddy instead of sugarcane so that can get the cheaper paddy from UP, or PDS-rice smuggled from Bihar and other states in connivance with officials.
Officials from the department and sugar mills are now actively reaching out to farmers, urging them to complete their registrations by the August 5 deadline to ensure smooth processing and procurement of their produce.
“We have formed teams to reach out to farmers to assist them in registering their sugarcane crops as the government has made registration mandatory on the MFMB portal for procurement,” said Hitender Sharma, Managing Director of Karnal Co-operative Sugar Mill.
