NAGDA: Anger and resentment is brewing among farmers as date for purchase of wheat on Minimum Support Price (MSP) has been postponed by the state government twice. As a result, farmers are somewhat forced to sell the wheat to traders at loss.
Initially, the government had announced purchase of wheat on MSP on March 15. It was later postponed to March 22 and then again.
This has enraged farmers as government’s support price for wheat is Rs 1,975 per quintal but traders are buying it for anything between Rs 1,700 and 1,800 only causing a loss of Rs 200 per quintal to farmers. Farmers are forced to sell their produce at loss owing to upcoming weddings in families and other reasons.
They are also anxious to protect their produce from untimely rain and hail after crops in many regions were damaged due to change in weather conditions.
Farmer Bhanwar Singh Dodiya from Ratanyakhedi, Jeevan Singh Gurjar from Nipania and Arjun Singh Panwar from Ratanyakhedi told Free Press that their wheat crop was ready but purchase date had been postponed twice adding to their problems. They said that farmers, who urgently need money, are forced to sell their produce at loss owing to government’s carelessness.
