Ranjana Chopra

Bhubaneswar: The state agriculture principal secretary Sourav Garg Thursday said that the state government will procure five Rabi crops—green gram, black gram, ground nut, arhar and sun flower seeds—at minimum support price(MSP). He said that the state has fixed the quantity for procurement keeping into consideration the production so that farmers would not face distress sale condition.

The state has set a target to procure 12520 tonnes of green gram, 4,900 tonnes of black gram, 13,480 tonnes of ground nut, 4400 tonnes of arhar and 1500 tonnes of sun flower seeds during the Rabi season 2017-18.

For green gram the MSP with bonus has been fixed at Rs 5575 per quintal. Similarly, for black gram the MSP is Rs 5400, ground nut Rs 4100, arhar Rs 5450 and sun flower seeds Rs4100.

The cooperation department principal secretary, Ranjana Chopra, said that the funds for the procurement has been placed with the Markfed in advance and the farmers would be paid their dues through online means. The farmers could sale their surplus produce by producing their identity card and land records in the primary agriculture cooperative societies(PACS), she said.

The chief secretary, AP Padhi, Thursday discussed with the district collectors about the state government’s decision to procure the five Rabi crops at MSPs including bonus.