UP on verge of breaking own record for wheat procurement

Lucknow, June 13 The Uttar Pradesh government is on the verge of breaking its own record of an all-time high procurement of wheat.

The state has so far purchased around 51.05 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of the crop, benefiting more than 11.54 lakh farmers since its commencement on April 1.

While the figure for the corresponding period in the procurement season 2020-21 was just 29.92 LMT.

Officials said that they may cross the all-time high record procurement of 52.92 LMT, made in 2018-19.

This year's purchase is expected to break the previous record since procurement will continue till June 15 in the state.

Food and Supply Commissioner Manish Chauhan said: "Despite the situation arising from the second wave of Covid pandemic, we are purchasing almost 1 LMT of wheat every day. On June 11, around 1.19 LMT was procured from the farmers."

The Yogi Adityanath government has purchased wheat worth Rs 10,082.99 crore from 11.54 lakh farmers.

For the first time, the farmers' have received direct benefits against the sale of their wheat crops without any delay and cuts under the "One Nation, One MSP, One DBT".

The payment is being directly transferred into the bank accounts of farmers within 72 hours of purchase.

The Chief Minister has already assured the farmers that the procurement process is not limited to the mere fulfilment of the prescribed procurement target. This year, the government has not fixed any target for wheat procurement.

To ensure that farmers do not face any problem, the government has nominated seven purchasing agencies, including the Department of Food and Supplies, PCF, UPSS, UPPCU, SFC, Mandi Parishad and the Food Corporation of India.

Before the monsoon arrives, the state government is making all arrangements for safe storage of the huge quantity of wheat purchased.

An online token system has been arranged this year under which farmers are able to get tokens for the sale of wheat at the purchasing centre as per their convenience. The geo-tagging of the purchase centres is being done by the remote sensing application centre to help farmers get the location and address of the centres easily.

To eliminate the middlemen, the state government has introduced the electronic point of purchase (e-PoP) machines ensuring transparency in the purchase of wheat.