Markfed clears dues to farmers

Over 10.03 lakh tonnes of maize, bengalgram, jowar, sunflower procured

Telangana State Cooperative Marketing Federation (TS-Markfed) has completed the payment of proceeds in lieu of maize, bengalgram, sunflower and jowar purchased from farmers at minimum support price under the price support scheme during the recently-concluded Yasangi season by clearing ₹210.49 crore.

Minister for Agriculture S. Niranjan Reddy stated on Tuesday that the amount was credited to the bank accounts of the farmers concerned. The dues cleared included ₹198.23 crore for maize, ₹5.69 crore for jowar, ₹4.09 crore for bengalgram and ₹2.48 crore for sunflower.

He explained that the amount was credited to the farmers’ accounts following release of ₹1,000 crore to the Markfed by Canara Bank as part of the borrowings guaranteed by the State government for procuring agricultural produce. He stated that for the first time in the State, nearly 9.43 lakh tonnes (9,42,944) of maize had been purchased from farmers at the MSP of ₹1,760 per quintal.

Besides, the Markfed had purchased 35,934 tonnes of bengalgram, 18,487 tonnes of jowar and 4,493 tonnes of sunflower during the Yasangi procurement season, in spite of the lockdown. As the government had given guarantee to borrow ₹3,213 crore already by Markfed, payment to farmers against purchase of their produce was also completed, he noted.

Total worth of procurement of the four crops made by the Markfed stood at over ₹1,907 crore and nearly ₹1,700 crore was paid to farmers till the last week.

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