Agra farmers take to open market to sell their produce

India Today spoke to farmers in the Agra district of Uttar Pradesh on the reason behind selling wheat in the open market.

Farmers in Agra district of Uttar Pradesh have not approached the wheat purchasing centers of the government, citing that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) being offered is lower than the price in the open market.According to sources, the Agra administration had opened wheat purchasing centres in Jarar and Jaitpur villages of the district, but no farmers had approached these centres to sell their produce on the first day.

Bhagwan Singh, a wheat farmer, told India Today that they were not selling their wheat at the government wheat purchase centre, as the MSP being offered was lower than the price being offered in the market. In the open market, their produce was being picked up at Rs. 2050 per quintal while the MSP was only Rs. 2015 per quintal.Umesh Kumar, Food Corporation of India in-charge at the Jarar and Jaitpur centre said that although all the arrangements had been made to buy the wheat from the farmers, they were not approaching the wheat purchase centre but instead were selling their produce in the open market.

Farmers Baburam, Chhotelal, Surendra Singh, and others, told India Today that the government will have to increase the MSP to Rs. 2200 per quintal, only then will the farmers sell their produce to the government.District Magistrate Prabhu N Singh visited the wheat purchase centres on Saturday and inspected the arrangements. Talking to India Today, he said that the staff present at the centres were instructed to ensure that all proper arrangements were there for a seamless transaction with the farmers.After inspecting the wheat purchase centre at the Kukthala village in Kiraoli Tehsil, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Rakesh Sachan told India Today that the farmers have sold their wheat for as much as Rs. 2188 per quintal in the open market whereas the MSP is only Rs. 2015, prompting the farmers to go to the cooperative committees to sell their produce.BJP MLA Babulal Chaudhary said that in some areas of Agra, wheat is still being harvested and the farmers have not yet registered with the centres. He added that hopefully the situation will improve soon and the farmers will also sell their produce at the government centres.