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Apr 14, 2021

After Five-Year Gap, FCI Resumes Proper Wheat Procurement at MSP in Delhi

The government and FCI have eased the documentation requirements, making it easier for farmers to sell at the MSP.
A farmer harvests wheat at a village in Ghaziabad district, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Photo: PTI/Arun Sharma

New Delhi: Increased awareness around the minimum support price (MSP) following the recent farmers’ agitation and easing of the documentation process has led to the renewal of a significant amount of wheat procurement by the Food Corporation of India at three purchase centres in Delhi. The purchase centres have been set up at the Najafgarh wholesale market and at the food storage depots at Narela and Mayapuri.

In the first 12 days of the procurement process, the FCI said it has purchased 281 metric tonnes of wheat from 37 farmers.

Speaking to The Wire, the nodal officer (procurement) of FCI, P.K. Negi, said the procurement process began on April 1 and is likely to continue till May 31, as per the Central government order. “After initial sampling and testing, the procurement process began and so far, till April 12 evening, 281 metric tonnes of wheat have been procured,” she added.

While over the last five years, the procurement process had almost come to a standstill with only around 27 metric tonnes of wheat being procured till April 27 last year, she said this year the process has taken off well.

“The entire stock of wheat purchased this year has been as per the minimum support price. There are clear cut directions that the MSP has to be adhered to,” the official said.

She said there are uniform specifications on the quality of wheat that can be purchased. “Sometimes on the persuasion of the state government, the government of India gives some relaxation, but that has not happened in the case of Delhi.”

The official said while 37 farmers have so far come forward to sell their wheat to the FCI, their actions are purely voluntary and they remain free to sell their produce in the open market if they get a better price there.

The developments assume significance considering that Delhi agriculture minister Gopal Rai had last week alleged that the FCI has not set up any purchasing counters in the national capital to purchase wheat from the farmers at the MSP.

Following an inspection of the Narela mandi, Rai had claimed that he did not find any FCI purchase centre there. His office issued a statement saying, “FCI claimed that they set up a counter, but our visit reveals something else. Some of their officers had said that counters had been set up in the godown. However, even over there, no purchases were being done…”

However, as the data reveals, the purchase process was on even when the inspection took place. The general manager (Delhi region) of FCI, Sudhir Kumar, clarified a day after Rai’s statement that the three purchase centres were functional since April 1.

Also read: Punjab: A Day After Arthiyas Call off Strike, Wheat Procurement Kicks Off

As for the purchases at Narela, he said: “Food storage depot Narela is adjacent to Narela mandi, hardly few meters away from its main gate, and offers a more appropriate place for procurement for farmers as well as FCI.” The official also pointed out that banners and cutouts had been put up at Najafgarh market and at Narela and Mayapuri food storage depots to inform farmers about the ongoing procurement process.

Despite increased urbanisation, Delhi has also witnessed an increase in the gross cropped area. According to the 2020-21 Economic Survey of Delhi, farming was being done on around the 43,569 hectares of land as opposed to 36,445 hectares in 2011-12. And wheat remains the crop of choice for most farmers, who cultivate it on 19,220 hectares.

However, the primary reason why very little of this wheat was purchased by the FCI over the past five years was that most of them could not do so as they did not possess the girdawari document – which was issued by the Revenue Department of the Delhi Government and contained details on the land, owner and cropping.

This issue was also flagged by the Bharatiya Kisan Union, which has been spearheading the farmers’ agitation, and its Delhi unit had also pointed out how in Delhi little wheat had been procured at the MSP by the government over the last five years.

This year, the FCI and joint director of agriculture of the Delhi government decided to allow the procurement on the basis of other physical documents as well. This was done because invoking Section 507 of the DMC Act following the urbanisation of Delhi’s villages had resulted in the land moving out of the revenue laws that governed the girdawari process.

As Kumar had stated, “due to the discontinuation of issuance of girdawari by Delhi government, it was mutually decided that farmers will produce a certificate issued by competent state authority mentioning about land details, agricultural produce along with the production.” This has resulted in most farmers now having the option of selling their produce at the MSP if they were not getting the right price in the open market.

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