The Nayab Singh Saini government’s announcement that 24 crops in the state would be procured on Minimum Support (MSP), coming months ahead of the state Assembly polls, has not cut much ice with farmer organisations. Out of the 24, around 10 are crops which are not extensively grown in the state, the farmer leaders and the Congress have pointed out.
Farmer anger over the unmet demand for legal guarantee of MSP was seen as a major contributor to the BJP’s poor performance in the recent Lok Sabha polls.
While Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Assembly and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda called the Saini government’s announcement another attempt by the BJP to “mislead farmers”, president of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) Sarwan Singh Pandher questioned the basis on which the announcement was made.
“The decision (to procure on MSP) is made by the Centre and the state government has no authority to make such announcements. The Centre must provide legal guarantee on MSP to farmers. The government is making such announcements keeping the polls in mind, but farmers will not fall in their trap,” Hooda told The Indian Express.
A day after Saini made the announcement regarding procurement of “all” crops on MSP in Haryana, the Cabinet said additional crops covered under it would be ragi (scientifically called Eleusine coracana), soybean, kala seed (fennel), jute, khopra (copra), moong, niger seed, surajmukhi (sunflower), jaun (barley), and jowar (sorghum).
Crops like wheat, mustard, barley, gram, paddy, maize, bajra, cotton, sunflower, moong, peanut, tur, urad and sesame are currently procured on MSP in 367 “anaj mandis (grain markets)” across the state. According to the state agriculture department, Haryana has a cultivable area of 3,694 hectares, of which 3,351 hectares is the net sown area.
“I also appeal to other state governments to come forward and procure crops on MSP,” Saini said.
Questioning the government’s intentions, Pandher asked why no provision for MSP procurement had been made in the Budget. “Why are other states and the Central government not coming out with such announcements? If the Haryana government is serious about procuring crops on MSP, they should give details of the funds and logistics required for implementing it. In the coming weeks, only paddy is up for procurement,” he pointed out.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni said the BJP government should bring a legislation in this regard in the Assembly. “It is only due to our demand for MSP that the government has now woken up and made this announcement,” he told The Indian Express.
Dismissing the apprehensions of farmer unions, Additional Chief Secretary (Agriculture) Dr Raja Shekhar Vendru said the main aim of the announcement was to include maximum crops sown in the state on the MSP list. “What if a coconut tree comes up and we start getting a yield from it? The aim is to ensure that crops which may be grown here in the future are also procured on MSP. The procurement will cost the government around Rs 123.65 crore. Also, the state is equipped with facilities needed for procurement of crops,” he told The Indian Express.
Retired Agriculture Director of Haryana Suresh Gehlawat, however, pointed out the issues with the existing structure of procurement. “For instance, mustard is currently procured on MSP and its yield is around eight quintals per acre. If a farmer sows mustard on 15 acres, it yields 120 quintals. However, the government procures only 25 quintals per day through the ‘Meri Fasal, Mera Byora’ portal, forcing the farmer to go to the procurement centre for five days. Same is the case with the sunflower crop. Cotton, on the other hand, fetches higher prices as private players procure it. Wheat, paddy and maize are the main crops that are largely procured by the government on MSP,” he told The Indian Express.
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