The Madhya Pradesh government has prolonged the wheat procurement period at Minimum Support Price until May 23, aiming to facilitate farmers and ensure the smooth purchase of all incoming produce. Minister Govind Singh Rajput revealed that over 60.7 lakh metric tonnes of wheat have been bought from nearly 9.78 lakh farmers statewide.
Procurement operations, active from Monday to Saturday, acquired 2.79 lakh metric tonnes of wheat on May 9 alone from 31,629 farmers at various procurement centers. To expedite the process for farmers, the government has extended the time for generating weighing slips and issuing payment vouchers.
In response to the increased workload during procurement, the state has augmented the number of weighing scales at centers from four to six, with provisions for further escalation based on farmer turnout. Additionally, enhancements in National Informatics Centre servers have been made to manage the heightened online activity efficiently.
The Food Department is closely monitoring procurement activities round the clock to ensure operational smoothness and prompt issue resolution. Notably, farmers are receiving payments directly in their bank accounts, with Rs 11,610 crore already disbursed. Under the Minimum Support Price scheme, farmers are being compensated Rs 2,625 per quintal for wheat, inclusive of both the Center’s support price and a state government bonus.
