Punjab-based arhtiyas (commission agents) and rice millers are facing severe losses as the farmers from the Bathinda, Mansa, and Sangrur districts of Punjab have decided to sell their paddy to mandis in Haryana now. The farmers have decided to sell the paddy in the Haryana markets as they are getting higher prices from private buyers compared to the MSP paid in the local mandis, according to a report by The Tribune.
The minimum support price for the paddy this year is Rs 2,060 per quintal. But the farmers have been selling the basmati-1509 variety at Rs 3,600 per quintal in the private markets in Haryana while the local markets offer Rs Rs 2,500-3,000 per quintal for every quintal.
Also, the basmati-1121 rice variety which is a new premium variety is being sold for Rs 3,800-4,000 per quintal in Punjab. The farmers have decided to sell their produce in the Haryana market as it offers Rs 4,500 for every quintal. One of the varieties of parmal is even fetching Rs 4,500-4,700 per quintal in Haryana. The markets in Haryana which are offering better prices to Punjab farmers are located in the Fatehabad, Ratia, Tohana, and Panchkula districts of the state.
Reports mention that around 70% of the paddy from the Mansa district of Punjab has been sold in the markets of Haryana. Besides receiving a higher price for their grain, farmers are also permitted to sell paddy with high moisture content in Haryana. Unlike in Punjab, where rice is purchased within the allowable moisture content limit of 17%, farmers may readily sell their products in Haryana with moisture levels up to 20-22%.
With this decision of the Punjab farmers, the state government is losing revenue collected from the farmers during paddy procurement in the form of market fees. The report mentions that while the government agencies in Punjab are procuring other paddy varieties, basmati and parmal are being procured by the private markets in Haryana at higher prices.
This decision of farmers in Punjab to sell their produce to private buyers in Haryana has caused losses for arhtiyas or the middlemen in the mandis, and they have approached the central govt to stop the farmers from doing so. Munish Babbi Danewalia, president of Arhtiya Association of Mansa, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.
“Unlike Punjab, there is no purchase limit on rice millers in Haryana so farmers find it convenient to sell their produce and get payment in a hassle-free manner there. Moreover, private purchasers in Haryana are also buying paddy which is slightly above the government-fixed moisture content limit”, Danewalia said in the letter written to the Prime Minister.
Leaders of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party has decided to take the side of arhtiyas in the matter, and are trying to stop the farmers from earning higher prices for their crop. AAP leaders in Punjab are urging the farmers to not sell their produce in the markets in Haryana. AAP legislators Budh Ram and Gurpreet Singh Banawali urged farmers not to sell their crops in Haryana since it was costing the state money. They assured the farmers that they would discuss the problem with CM and try to fix it.
Meanwhile, Members of the District Rice Millers’ Association and the District Arhtiya Association Mansa have also written to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and requested his immediate intervention in resolving the matter. “Both parmal and basmati varieties from Punjab are being sold in Haryana and if it continues, then almost 15 percent of the product will move out of the state, causing substantial revenue loss to the government”, President of Rice Millers’ Association Makhan Goyal was quoted.
It is notable that while the farmers in Punjab are now selling their produce to private buyers in Haryana, they themselves had forced the central govt to withdraw the farm acts that had given them the freedom to sell their crop outside regulated mandis run by the middlemen. They had said they want to sell only through the arhtiyas and do not want to sell directly to buyers. But now, they are bypassing the same arhtiyas to sell directly to private buyers in Haryana.
