FCI buys 30 pc more wheat in Himachal this year
Bhanu P Lohumi
Tribune News Service
Shimla, May 17
The wheat procurement in the state has surpassed the last year’s level by 30 per cent. Four new centres have been opened to purchase wheat from farmers after strict restrictions were announced by Punjab and Haryana in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
Around 4,500 MT of wheat has been procured against the total of 3,100 MT last year. The procurement will continue for one month.
The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has procured wheat for Rs 1,975 per quintal, benefiting 1,124 farmers.
As the total production of wheat during 2021-22 is expected around 6.72 lakh MT, eight procurement centres have been opened.
The centres are opened in Paonta Sahib and Kala Amb (Sirmaur), Kanger and Takrala (Una), Fatehpur and Thakurdwara (Kangra) Nalagarh (Solan) and Patta (Bilaspur) from farmers, who were unable to sell their produce in the neighbouring states.
Wheat produced in the Paonta valley is known for its quality but the farmers were either dependent on middlemen or travelled to the markets in Punjab and Haryana to sell their produce at throwaway prices.
“Earlier, I had to hire a tractor trolley to carry produce to Hoshiarpur in Punjab but the opening of Takarala mandi has saved our time and money and crop fetched good price,” said Ajay Kumar (41), a farmer of Nangal Salangadi village in Amb tehsil of Una district.
“We had to leave early to Khijrabad in Haryana with no guarantee on the assured prices for their produce, but the initiative is proving to be a boon for the farmers,” said another farmer Avinash Saini (31) from Bhungarni village in Paonta
The infrastructure in mandis will be strengthened for the upcoming paddy season, Managing Director of the HPSAMB Naresh Thakur said, adding that keeping in view the Covid protocols, the token system had been introduced.
