Chandigarh – Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal today asked chief minister Bhagwant Mann to tell why he had forsaken the Moong growers of Punjab by refusing to procure their produce at the minimum support price despite making tall promises to do so.
In a statement here, the SAD president said farmers who had grown Moong were now running from pillar to post to sell their crop. “With State procurement agencies not entering the fray, the farmers have been left to the mercy of private players who are purchasing their crop at rates much lower than the MSP”. He said farmers were getting around Rs 6, 500 to Rs 7, 000 per quintal for the crop against the MSP of Rs 8, 780 per quintal.
Asserting that this was the fourth consecutive season that the Moong farmers had been betrayed by their State government, Mr Sukhbir Badal said the chief minister had encouraged farmers to sow Moong and guaranteed to purchase the complete crop in 2022. “However State agencies only purchased one per cent of the total crop which came to the Mandis”. He said in 2023 the State procurement was reduced even further than one percent and from the 2024 season State agencies had not procured any Moong.
Asserting that the AAP government’s callousness was killing an initiative which had the propensity to increase farm income besides benefiting farmers due to nitrogen fixation, Mr Badal said farmers needed government support to sow Moong as untimely rain and diseases made them susceptible to losses. “Farmers need to be incentivized rather than being punished for taking the chief minister at his word”.
Mr Badal said the SAD was committed to farmer welfare and was already devising a holistic programme to increase farm incomes in the State once it formed the government in 2027. “We will ensure farmers get MSP on Moong once we form the government”, he added.