Ahmedabad, February 28 The Gujarat government will procure wheat directly from farmers at the minimum support price (MSP) for the rabi marketing season 2022, the State government informed on Monday.
The State authorities have asked farmers desirous of taking part in the procurement process to get themselves registered on a dedicated online platform.
Farmers’ registration will begin on March 2, and continue till March 31. Farmers have been asked to upload the required documents and bank details along with their identity proof, etc.
The Gujarat State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited will conduct the procurement process, the statement said.
Earlier, the Gujarat government had announced to conduct MSP procurement for gram (chana), for which it had also appealed to the Centre to support the procurement process. Gujarat State Cooperative Marketing Federation (GujComasol) will make the procurement of chana from 189 centres on behalf of the Central nodal agency Nafed.
Total quantity to be procured for chana is estimated to be 4.65 lakh tonnes for the season.
Notably, as per the Gujarat government's second advance estimate for the 2021-22 crops, the wheat output is projected at 39.2 lakh tonnes (lt) — about 10 per cent lower than 43.78 lt in the previous year. The area under wheat for the year is estimated at 12.17 lakh hectares, a little lower than 13.66 lakh hectares last year. Wheat prices (Lokwan variety) ruled at ₹2,100 per quintal, with arrivals of 1,080 quintals at Gondal market yard in Rajkot district on Monday. The MSP for wheat has been fixed at ₹2,015 per quintal
Chana output for the rabi 2022 season is projected at a bumper 24.90 lt (14.38 lt). Gram MSP for the current season is fixed at ₹5,100 per quintal, whereas the market prices have fallen to ₹4,480 at Gondal market on Monday with 4,444 quintals of arrivals.