Chandigarh, April 11 (IANS) As the wheat arrivals surge across agrarian state Punjab, the total purchase of wheat has created a record in five years, officials said on Monday.
Government agencies have procured 4.3 lakh metric tons of wheat till April 10, against the earlier highest peak of 38,019 metric tons in 2018.
An official told IANS this year the government has ensured that minimum support price (MSP) payments of Rs 138 crore transferred directly into bank accounts of farmers, whereas the earlier high was Rs 6.5 crore in year 2017.
Terming the record-breaking figures a result of the good arrangements, he said the state government was committed to welfare of the farmers and would continue to take all possible steps to facilitate them.
The Central government has fixed the minimum support price of wheat at Rs 2,015 per quintal.
The government aims to purchase 132 lakh tonnes of wheat this season. The procurement of wheat, which began on April 1, will continue till May 31.
The Modi government is working on a mission mode to double the production of saffron in the Kashmir Valley, which is likely to change the fate of thousands of farmers engaged in the cultivation of this expensive spice
Alleging sale of election tickets and nepotism, BSP workers on Tuesday blackened the faces of party national coordinator Ramji Gautam and former state in-charge Sitaram Meghwal and paraded them on donkeys
India and Pakistan are set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on October 23 for the opening of the Kartarpur corridor that will link the Indian side through a corridor to the Kartarpur gurdwara
