State-owned procurement agency Food Corporation of India (FCI) on Saturday said private traders will have to pay the bonus of Rs 50 a quintal to farmers for buying wheat crop, though there is no proper mechanism in place to ensure bonus payment from them.

“Private traders or millers will have to pay the bonus amount as announced by the Centre to farmers for purchasing wheat,” a senior official of FCI told PTI here today.

The central government on Friday decided to give bonus of Rs 50 a quintal over and above MSP of Rs 1,120 a quintal in order to boost wheat procurement.

However, he said unlike in paddy bonus, there is no proper mechanism in wheat bonus payment to ensure that the farmers were given bonus amount by private traders or millers.

“In case of paddy bonus, we can ensure from rice millers, who have to deliver levy rice to FCI, for bonus payment by taking certificate from them in this regard. But in case of wheat bonus, there is no such mechanism available as of now,” he said.

FCI officials said in ongoing crop lifting, wheat growers will prefer to deliver their produce to government owned agencies for buying rather than private traders to ensure their bonus payment.

Confusion prevailed among private traders over payment of wheat bonus as they today sought whether they are required to pay bonus over and above wheat to farmers for buying crop.

“There is no clarity as of now whether we will have to pay bonus on wheat buying or not,” a Khanna-based wheat trader said.

However, buying by private traders over the past few years in Punjab has been on decline due to higher taxes and levies on food grain buying. Private buying of wheat sharply declined from 11.44 lakh tonne in 2006-07 to 60,000 tonnes in the 2010-11 Rabi marketing season.

In the ongoing wheat procurement, private traders bought 2,138 tonnes so far in Punjab.

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