With wheat harvesting around the corner in the key grain producing States of Punjab and Haryana, farmers have urged the State governments to procure the grain from their fields amid the rising spread of COVID-19.
Also read | Farmers urged not to panic
Bhartiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal) general secretary Harinder Singh on Tuesday said the government should directly lift the produce from their field or stores. “The Punjab government is proposing to increase the number of ‘mandis’ but it would not solve the problem. In view of the labour shortage ..it will be a herculean task to swiftly lift the grain from these ‘mandis’ when the arrival picks up,” Mr. Singh told The Hindu.
Also read | Control room set up to attend procurement issues
Mr. Singh said managing crowd (social distancing) would also not be an easy task there.
“Direct procurement will help the farmer and the government agencies in this hour of crises. The government should, however, pay the farmers an additional ₹100 per quintal for purchase between May 1 and 31 and another ₹100 per quintal for the wheat purchased between June 1 and 30 on account of storage, labour charges. These payments would be over and above the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of ₹1,925 per quintal,” he said.
He said to address the problem of shortage of labour, the work related to procurement of wheat should be included in the MGNREGA, which would to some extent help ease the process of procurement.
Jagjit Singh, State president of the BKU (Sidhupur), said storing the produce at home would mean additional burden on farmers. “Also, keeping harvested produce for long would mean guarding it from weather vagaries. Fire incidents during the harvesting season usually go up,” he said
Also read | BJP urges State to help citrus farmer
The government purchase of wheat — the main rabi (winter) crop — usually starts in the first week of April in Punjab and Haryana. This year, the Haryana government has announced that procurement will commence from April 20, while Punjab has decided to start it from April 15.
Kewal Singh, a farmer in Punjab’s Mansa who has sown wheat in 20 acres, said the restrictions during the lockdown have increased his worries about harvesting and sale of the crop. “The government is going for staggered procurement but this will only increase the risk and cost for me, putting additional financial burden. We should be adequately compensated.”
Wheat procurement in Punjab will be arranged in about 5,000 purchase centres, by appointment for every farmer on given days. The centres will be provided with all arrangements required to prevent the spread of the pandemic, with full facilities for food, water, shelter and healthcare. To ensure timely payment to the farmers, it has been decided that payments shall be made to the Arhtiyas (comission agents) within 48 hours and they will, in turn, pay the farmers within the next 48 hours.
Haryana has also decided to go for staggered procurement. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the number of purchase centres had been increased to 2,000 from 477 earlier.
Rattan Mann, president of the Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union (Tikait), has also supported the mechanism of direct procurement of wheat from fields.
