Long queues at mandis rile mustard growers
ROHTAK: Mustard growers have to stand in queues for long hours to get tokens (entry pass in mandis) in Haryana’s Bhiwani and Hisar to sell their produce. The government has announced a minimum support price (MSP) for mustard at Rs 5,650 per quintal for this season and the price in the open market is hovering between Rs 4,700 and Rs 4,900 per quintal. The government is procuring mustard through HAFED and HSWC. As many as 106 purchase centres have been set up across the state to initiate the procurement process.
Farmers who had registered their crop on the portal are permissible to sell their crop on the MSP and they required a token (entry pass) to take their produce inside the mandi and sell the same to the handling agent.
Ramesh Kumar, a farmer from Patwan village in Bhiwani, said that he had to wait for three hours to get a token because of the rush at the counter.
“One farmer can sell 25 quintals of mustard one day and he can bring the same quantity the next day. Tractors are parked for 3 to 4 km from the grain market,” he added.
Dayanand Punia, a farmer leader from Bhiwani, claimed that he had visited the mandi in Behal, where he found many shortcomings on the part of handling agents and government.
“The procurement process started four days ago but the process needs to be streamlined. The handling agents are deducting the amount from farmers in the name of moisture content in the crop. The government should improve the process and it should also procure the crop from farmers who had not registered the crop on the portal,” he added. An official from the purchasing agency said that they had procured over 14,000 quintals of mustard in Hisar and nearly 3,000 quintal was procured by private players.
“Nearly 40% of the procured mustard has been lifted and farmers had to wait a long time to get tokens because more farmers are reaching to sell their produce,” the official added.
The government is expecting 14.28 lakh metric tonnes of mustard will arrive in mandis.