NewDelhi/ Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh will start procurement drive for wheat, gram, mustard and masur sown in the 2020-21 rabi season from Saturday, said an official with the state government on Friday.
"Earlier, the state government had deferred the rabi crops procurement from March 22 due to rain and hailstorm. Now, the farmers can sell their produce at minimum support price from March 27," the official said.
The state aims to procure around 12.5 mln tn of wheat, 1.45 mln tn of chana, 390,000 tons of mustard and 137,000 tn of masur at the minimum support price from registered farmers, the official said.
The government has fixed 1,975 rupees per 100 kg as the minimum support price for wheat from 2020-21 marketing year beginning April, up from Rs 1,925 last year. The minimum support price for chana is fixed at 5,100 rupees per 100 kg, and for mustard it is 4,650 rupees per 100 kg.
The state has set up over 3,000 centres for wheat procurement and around 1,100 centres for purchasing chana, mustard and masur at minimum support prices, he said.
Madhya Pradesh has launched a survey for assessing damage to the standing rabi crops. In most places, wheat crops have been flattened, and pods of chana and mustard were found broken due to hail, the official said.
The pace of harvesting key rabi crops in Madhya Pradesh, the largest producer of chana and leading grower of wheat and mustard, is slow as rains have hit the crop in most places, the official said. Madhya Pradesh has registered over 3.6 million farmers for the procurement drive, the official said.
