7.8 MT wheat to be procured at MSP: DC

The district will procure over 7.8 metric tonnes (MT) of wheat at minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 60 per kg as prescribed by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to improve the financial condition of farmers in the state.

This was stated by Rahul Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, at Bilaspur today. He said that the government had announced to procure naturally produced wheat at Rs 60 per kg. He added that the purchase would be undertaken by the ATMA project of Department of Agriculture in collaboration with Himachal Pradesh State Civil Supplies Corporation. He said that wheat purchase has started at wheat procurement centres established at Ghumarwin and Bilaspur.

The DC visited the wheat purchase centre at Bilaspur to take the stock of arrangements and interacted with farmers present at the site. The DC said the Himachal Pradesh Government is continuously striving to promote natural farming.

He said over 8,000 farmers in the district have adopted natural farming. Out of them, 4,800 farmers are registered on the central government’s Star Portal and fully comply with natural farming standards. He added that 100 farmers have registered this year to sell their naturally grown wheat.

In Hamirpur, over 39 quintals of wheat has been procured under the ATMA project. The procurement would continue till May 25, said Aprajita Chandel, Assistant Commissioner to Deputy Commissioner. She said that the payment to farmers would be done through online mode — into the accounts of the farmers directly. She added that apart from wheat, farmers could also sell their fresh turmeric to the department at Rs 90 per kg.

Aprajita said that over 20,000 farmers were associated with the natural farming programme in the district covering over 3,000 hectares of cultivated land. She said that natural farming is low-cost and a more beneficial mode of agriculture and that farmers are improving their financial condition in the district.

Dr Nitin Kumar, project director of ATMA, said that interested farmers could bring their produce to the stores of HPFCSC located at Pucca Bharo near the town.