Punjab and Haryana Farmers Intensify Their Campaign Against Direct Sale To Private Silos

Farmers in Haryana and Punjab have escalated their campaign to persuade other farmers to sell wheat solely through government procurement agency, following a dispute over direct transfer of wheat crop from farmers to private company silos.

Farm leaders admitted that some farmers in Punjab were selling their products straight to private silos at higher prices, but they said they had stepped up their campaign and were holding meetings to discourage the activity. They claimed that private silo owners were buying wheat at a higher price for a limited time in order to undermine the government's procurement mechanism.

"Many farmers have acknowledged selling their products straight to silos in various places at greater prices. Apart from the high price, farmers claim that silo owners complete the procedure quickly and release their tractor-trailers, but they must wait a long time at official grain markets, according to Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan, general secretary of BKU Ugrahan.

In terms of their future plans to restrict direct sales to silos, he said they had stepped up their effort, which they had started a while ago.

"We've been holding special meetings and informing farmers about silo owners' plots to undermine the government's buying system." The majority of them have recognised this and have sworn not to sell their produce to silos, even at exorbitant prices. We are not pressuring any farmer, but rather persuading them by sharing the losses that we may face in the future," he explained.

Puneet Bansal, the director of the Chhajli silo, stated that they had never acquired a crop directly. "We solely offer our services for government buy storage and never do any direct purchases," he explained. "If farmers are selling their crop to private players, it is because they are offering them greater rates," says Gurpartap Singh, a Sangrur farmer. To sustain the government purchasing system, farmer unions should undertake an indefinite agitation for a raise in MSP based on our input costs," he stated.