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Madhya Pradesh takes over Punjab in wheat procurement for rabi season 2020-21. The state has procured 127 lakh tonne or 33 percent of the total procured wheat by all the states of the country.
Over 14.19 lakh farmers got direct cash transferred to their accounts by the state government in an average of seven days, said a state government press release.
An amount of Rs 20,253 crore has been deposited in the accounts of the farmers.
The Food Corporation of India and other state agencies have procured 386,54 lakh tonnes of wheat in the country till date, said government officials.
Wheat procurement in Madhya Pradesh has increased by 74 percent as compared to last year’s 73.69 lakh tonne at the minimum support price.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has conducted 75 consecutive meetings from March 23, to review the wheat procurement season which began in April.
“The state government formulated an effective strategy for wheat procurement. Arrangements were made for gunny bags and storage while setting a target of 100 lakh metric tonnes more than the procurement made last year. The procurement had to be started late on April 15 following adverse circumstances due to Corona. The government was aware that more procurement would have to be made from farmers compared to previous year in a short time due to recession and disrupted movement,”said a Madhya Pradesh government release.
Despite the lockdown, additional gunny bags were arranged for 25 lakh tonnes.While working in lockdown, storage was arranged for additional 10 lakh metric tonnes.
To ensure more procurement was done in a short time from more farmers the number of procurement centres were increased from 3545 last year to 4529 centres. While adhering to social distancing, the system of sending SMS to farmers was ensured so that only those who received the SMS reached the procurement centre. At least 75 lakh SMSes were sent to farmers to ensure their awareness about Corona and other related information, said the release.
This time 81 percent of the farmers who were registered came to the procurement centres in Madhya Pradesh to sell wheat, compared to 48.36 percent last year.
The percentage of small and marginal farmers who participated in the procurement was only 40 percent, which has increased to 84 percent this time. “This makes it clear that small and marginal farmers have benefited more this time by selling wheat at a support price,”it said.
The government has developed a storage capacity of 130 lakh tonnes, which is remaining for storage of wheat and its storage will also be ensured very soon.
Source: indiatimes.com