Haryana Additional Chief Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs Department, Dr. Sumita Misra, reviewed the preparations for the upcoming Kharif procurement season 2024-25 in Haryana. The meeting was attended by heads of all procurement agencies, Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Food Corporation of India (Panchkula), and the heads of the state's rice millers.
During the meeting, discussions were held on various aspects related to crop procurement, such as gunny bags, storage capacity, and transportation, to ensure a smooth procurement process during the Kharif season. The rice millers were assured that they would not face any issues in the upcoming procurement season.
It was informed that after the farmers register their crops on the 'Meri Fasal Mera Byora' portal of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the entire procurement and payment process will be done online through the e-Procurement portal. Apart from this, adequate arrangements for gunny bags and storage have been made in the state's markets for the Kharif crops.
The state has set a target to procure 60 lakh metric tons of paddy and 3.83 lakh metric tons of millet for the Central and State pools under the National Food Security Act, 2013. The Government of India has fixed a Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs. 2,300 per quintal for the common variety and Rs. 2,320 per quintal for the Grade-A variety of paddy. For millet, the MSP is Rs. 2,625 per quintal for the 2024-25 Kharif procurement season.
During the season, procurement centres have been opened in 241 markets for paddy, 91 for millet, 19 for maize, 38 for moong, 7 for groundnut, 27 for sesame, 22 for arhar, and 10 for Urad (black gram). Dr. Sumita Misra directed the concerned departments to ensure that all procurement centres are equipped with basic facilities like help desks, drinking water, and toilets.
Additionally, the installation of CCTV cameras and Electronic Weighbridges in the markets has been ordered.A helpline number, 1800-180-2600, has been established at the office of the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board, Panchkula, for the convenience of farmers.
The meeting was attended by Managing Director of HAFED, Sh. J. Ganesan, Managing Director, Haryana State Warehousing Corporation, Sh. K.Makarand Pandurang, General Manager (Region) Food Corporation of India, (Director Level), Regional Office, Smt. Sharandeep Kaur Brar, Director, Agriculture, Sh. Raj Narayan Kaushik, among other officers.