Govt moong purchase slides by 77% in Punjab

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, June 25

Even as the Punjab Government has been promoting moong cultivation as part of its crop diversification and saving groundwater plan, the government purchase of moong this year is down by 77 per cent as compared to last year till this date.

Farmers have been forced to sell moong to private traders at rates far below the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 7,755 per quintal. As arrivals peak in the state, farmers selling their crop to private traders are getting between Rs 6,800 to Rs 7,000 per quintal, which is Rs 955-Rs 755 per quintal less than the MSP.

Information gathered by The Tribune shows that the government purchase of moong is just 2,280 quintals, compared to the government purchase of 9,902 quintals till this date last year. On the other hand, private traders have purchased 1,47,282 quintals of moong

till date. Comparatively, government had purchased 81,587 quintals of Moong till date last year. Naveen Garg, a commission agent in Jagraon, the biggest mandi for the purchase of moong, said an average of 15,000 bags of moong was arriving at the Jagraon mandi daily, but the government purchase was only 500 bags. “Since the government does not have the infrastructural capacity to procure moong on its own, it should have involved commission agents. The farmers are suffering because of the low prices offered to them,” he said.

Rajbir Singh, a farmer from Rama village in Moga, who has grown moong on 50 acres, said, “This year, the yield is higher at 12-13 quintals per acre. That is why we have not suffered a huge loss.”

Amarinder Singh, a farmer from Dhoolkot village, said he sold moong today at Rs 7,000 per quintal, but it was still less than the MSP.

Gursewak Singh, who has cultivated moong on 10 acres at Rama village, said he got a price of Rs 6,900 per quintal from the sale to a private trader in Jagraon.

Girish Dayalan, Managing Director, Markfed, said, “Markfed has notified 42 mandis for the procurement of moong. The procurement has started in seven mandis. As per a report of the Mandi Board, 1,60,000 quintals have arrived in the mandis. Till date, 2,280 quintals have been purchased by Markfed at an MSP of Rs 7,755 per quintal, which was as per the government specifications. Moong which confirmed to speciations was sold above MSP to private players even at the rate of Rs 8,500 per quintal.”

Jagraon leads

• At 1.18 lakh quintals, maximum moong purchase (including private) in Jagraon, followed by Barnala (12,010 quintals) and Sangrur (5,062 quintals)
• Zero purchase in Gurdasapur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and Fatehgarh Sahib districts
• Lowest purchase in Faridkot at 150 quintals
• Last year, a total of 4.83 lakh quintals of moong had been purchased in state