Haryana farmers may pay a heavy price if forced to delay wheat harvest

The Haryana authorities on Thursday wrote to the Centre, looking for approval to start wheat procurement this 12 months from April twenty, instead of April 1, and to have it out in a staggered way. This arrives in the backdrop of a nationwide lock-down to handle the Covid-19 pandemic.

To incentivise farmers to delay the harvest, the Condition authorities needs to give ₹50/quintal for arrivals that occur in between Might six and Might 31 and ₹125/quintal for arrivals in between June 1 and June thirty. Although it is a neat program on paper, it has remaining farmers fearful.

By delaying the harvest, farmers will have to leave the standing crop at the mercy of the temperature. Presently, given that Thursday, there have been rains in several components of Haryana and forecasts are that it may possibly go on for subsequent handful of days. So, farmers are presently fearing harm of their wheat crop.

Very last 12 months, all of Haryana’s wheat crop was harvested by April 27-28. This 12 months, thanks to existing temperature disorders it may possibly be delayed but not increase until conclusion of Might.

Farm fireplace fears

The other panic is farm fireplace. Vikas Chaudhary, a wheat farmer from Karnal, advised BusinessLine: “Wheat crops fully dry up as summer months commences. They conveniently catch fireplace when the bearing of the harvester will get hot or even if there is a spark from a bulb or electrical wire and managing the fireplace gets difficult with high velocity winds.”

Nevertheless, a senior official from the Office of Agriculture, Haryana, who spoke to Business Line, said, “It is raining below now…farm-fireplace is a very imaginary predicament…”

Quite a few farmers in the Condition do not have storage place at dwelling or industry. As for every authorities facts, about sixty five for every cent of holdings in Haryana are tiny and marginal, with the sizing of holding less than two hectare. And the panic of these tiny farmers about farm fireplace is not without a motive. Very last 12 months in Haryana about 200 acres of wheat crop in a dozen of villages across Karnal and Kaithal districts were destroyed by fireplace, for every media studies. Wheat crop spread about about four hundred acres and stubble about virtually 800 acres in the Madlauda and Sanoli blocks of Panipat district were also destroyed by fireplace, said a Tribune India report on April 27.

Agents may possibly get edge

Although incentives have been declared for farmers to delay the harvest, it looks like the authentic beneficiaries will only be the arthiyas — the commission brokers. Unlike elsewhere in the region, in Haryana, even the government’s MSP procurement takes place only by using the commission agent community.

The agent will get jute luggage to procure wheat from farmers as the procurement year opens. But it is his wish when he challenges the ‘I form’ to the authorities — in April, Might or June. He can also pocket the incentive specified by the authorities to the farmer.

“Usually, the commission brokers are specified jute bori (jute luggage) on the date the procurement commences,” said a farmer from Palwal who did not wish to be named. “They get the harvest from us about the subsequent 10-15 days and give us the ‘J form’ (that has specifics of the generate taken from the farmer and MSP paid out) when they please. Although the MSP charge is published on the form, the commission agent decides what he needs to give us. Compact farmers like me simply cannot issue them.” (The J form is issued to the farmers even though the I form is issued to the authorities by the brokers.)

BusinessLine had highlighted the trouble of tiny farmers in Haryana in an write-up titled ‘For Haryana’s farmers, MSP is only an illusion’ very last November, when this author had frequented Karnal. In a Condition wherever farmers get cheated on the MSP by itself, what does an increment (incentive) in the procurement selling price indicate at all?

Resolution

This is the time the Centre has to force the Haryana state authorities to start procuring directly from farmers.

To oversee the procurement, the Village Panchayat Secretary can turn into the nodal officer and MNREGA personnel can be made use of for loading/unloading advise some farmer teams.

Else, the alternative is to open up the mandis by the standard dates and assure cleanliness and social distancing. If the standing or harvested crop is destroyed by rain and dampness or fireplace, it will be a greater trouble for the Condition to manage.