JAIPUR: Farmers have expressed displeasure over bajra not being purchased at the minimum support price (MSP) at govt mandis in eight districts of Rajasthan.
According to farmer groups, farmers are selling bajra at a loss of over Rs 300 per quintal at the mandis. While the MSP for bajra is Rs 2,625 per quintal, they sell it at Rs 2,200 to Rs 2,400 per quintal at the mandis.
“Due to the govt’s failure to start purchasing bajra at MSP, farmers are forced to sell their produce at throwaway prices.In the last week of September alone, farmers incurred losses exceeding Rs 1.50 crore,” said the national president of Kisan Mahapanchayat, Rampal Jat.
According to available information, farmers had to sell 50,800 quintals of bajra in the mandis of Bagru (Jaipur Rural), Chomu (Jaipur Rural), Srimadhopur (Neem Ka Thana), Kekri, Dausa, Lalsot (Dausa), Mundawar (Kotputli-Behror), Mandawari (Dausa), Bayana (Bharatpur), and Deeg at prices ranging from Rs 2,200 to 2,400 per quintal, while the govt-declared MSP is Rs 2,625 per quintal. Farmers received Rs 1.52 crore less than the declared minimum price in September, averaging a loss of Rs 300 per quintal.
“This year, due to excessive rainfall, most crops were destroyed, and even the surviving crops are not fetching the prices the govt claims as minimum. According to the Rajasthan govt, the total production cost (C-2) for bajra this year is Rs 1,936 per quintal. In compliance with the 2018-19 budget announcement by the Centre, the one-and-a-half times the price of bajra would be Rs 2,904 per quintal. As per this, farmers are receiving up to Rs 700 less per quintal,” he added.
Bajra is produced in seven states in India, including Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. Rajasthan alone contributes 48% of the total produce. “The Centre announces MSP for bajra annually and takes credit for it, but no govt, regardless of the party, has purchased even a single grain at this price in the last 12 years,” said Jat.