The Government may have announced a bonus of Rs 100 on top of a minimum support price of Rs 750 per quintal of wheat but reports that it will curb private players from procurement have set the mandis in turmoil.

In Punjab, private buyers are promising Rs 1,000 per quintal of wheat, in Madhya Pradesh, even double that rate. The apprehension that the Centre may step in and prevent farmers from selling their harvest to anyone other than the Food Corporation of India has generated so much heat that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today told the Assembly that the Congress government in Delhi had no business imposing curbs when it did so little to help them.

His Agriculture Minister Sucha Singh Langah said farmers should sell their produce to the highest bidder, not just government agencies.

It’s the same story in Madhya Pradesh. Private players are queuing up at mandis, offering even Rs 2,000 per quintal at some places. Data provided by Madhya Pradesh State Agriculture Marketing Board show that mandis in Ujjain, Indore, Dewas, Itarsi, Harda, Banapur, Badnawar are witnessing record sales so early in the season.

People like Gurinderpal Singh Dhillon, former sarpanch of Padhari Kalan village in Amritsar district, say they have already accepted handsome advance money from private players. “I struck a deal with Cargill India through the local commission agent. They’ve promised to pay me anything between Rs 950 and Rs 1,000 for a quintal,” says Dhillon who has 40 acres of wheat. But he’s angry ever since he has been told that private players may be kept out. “I will not sell my wheat to the Food Corporation of India (FCI). If need be, I will take it to Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh or even Gujarat,” says Dhillon.

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