Haryana’s top official, Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi, checked on plans Wednesday for buying up kharif pulses and oilseeds from farmers across the state. Procurement kicks off soon at more than 100 centers, with set schedules and spots for each crop to keep things organized.
For moong, buying runs until November 15 at 38 centers. Arhar heads to 22 centers in December, while urad goes to 10 spots that same month. Groundnut procurement starts November 1 and lasts through December 31 at seven locations. Til, or sesame, gets bought in December at 27 centers. Soybean covers seven markets from October to November, and nigerseed hits two markets in that window.
Rastogi told officials to make the whole process smooth and stress-free for farmers. He stressed starting buys on time and setting up enough storage space plus plenty of gunny bags at the mandis, or markets.
Principal Secretary for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Pankaj Agarwal, shared good news on production boosts. Moong farming expanded from 1.09 lakh acres last year to 1.47 lakh acres this season, with yields jumping from 300 kg per acre to 400 kg. That means production could surge from 32,715 metric tons to 58,717 metric tons. Arhar and urad saw smaller gains in both planted area and output. Til cultivation doubled, from 800 acres to 2,116 acres, pushing expected production to 446 metric tons, according to an official update.
But not everyone’s happy with how things are going. Just two days ago, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda slammed the government for delaying procurement of key crops like paddy, millet, and cotton. With those arriving in markets now, farmers have no choice but to sell at rock-bottom prices, he said.
Hooda pointed out paddy fetching Rs 300-400 less per quintal than the minimum support price (MSP), millet down by about Rs 600 per quintal, and cotton dropping around Rs 2,000 per quintal. After battling devastating floods, he added, farmers now face this extra hit from government delays on kharif crop procurement.
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