Farmers in UP see silver lining in pandemic cloud

CHANDAULI (UP): “My harvest is done but I haven’t yet sold my wheat as the market trend shows a possibility of higher prices later,” says Mahendra Pratap alias Ramtapasya Singh, a farmer in Baburi of Chandauli, now Deen Dayal Upadhyay Nagar.

With 60 acres, Singh is a ‘big farmer’ here in UP’s grain belt, but even those with smaller landholdings are playing wait-and-watch, expecting the market price to exceed the government’s minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 1,925/quintal.

“Even now, traders are lifting wheat from farmers’ doorstep for Rs 1,900,” Singh says, pointing out that the price is effectively higher than the MSP because of savings on cartage. He adds that farmers expect the price to go past Rs 2,300 per quintal — about 20% more than the MSP — as the state distributes record quantities of free foodgrains.

Although the lockdown started on March 25, at the height of the region’s harvest season, it benefited UP’s farmers. “We were worried about the crop, but the government never stopped agriculturerelated work,” says Raghav Mishra, another farmer.

Also, closed industries and migrants returning from other states created a glut of cheap labour . “For the first time in years, we had labourers coming to us instead of we pursuing them,” says Singh.

The state government also smoothed the process of procurement, said Pravin Kumar Singh of Hatia village. “When I took my harvest to the local government-run purchase centre, I was issued an online token and paid within a week.” Yet procurement remains well below the UP government’s target. Ramjanam Pathak , a procurement centre head , said his centre had bought only 2,000 quintals of wheat against a target of 12,000 quintals. “We are requesting farmers to sell their wheat at their doorstep, but they are not keen.”

Ravishankar Mishra , regional food controller for Varanasi division, said only 22.4% of the target had been met in the four districts under him. “Weddings have been postponed and nobody knows how long the epidemic will last, so farmers expect the price of wheat to rise in open market.”