NEW DELHI, 29 April 2020: Wheat harvesting across the country is continuing at a brisk pace amidst the lockdown.  SOP related to crop harvesting & threshing during Kharif 2020 are being adhered to by the farmers and workers.

The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, Government of India has circulated the SOP to the States for compliance in order to protect health of farmers and farm workers and to contain the spread of Corona Virus.

As reported by the States about 98-99% of wheat crop has been harvested in Madhya Pradesh, 92-95% in Rajasthan, 85-88% in Uttar Pradesh, 55-60% in Haryana, 60-65% in Punjab and 87-88% in other States.

The procurement of Pulses & Oilseeds at MSP from farmers under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) scheme in Rabi 2020-21 season is currently in progress in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The Procurement Status of these crops during lockdown period is as below:

• 72,415.82 metric tonnes T Gram (Chana) has been procured from 5 States namely Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
• 1,20,023.29 metric tonnes Toor Dal has been procured from 7 States namely Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Odisha.
• 1,83,400.87 metric tonnes Mustard has been procured from 3 States namely Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

Meanwhile, the National Horticulture Board (NHB) collected information on “Available Planting Material” of fruits and vegetables from 618 NHB-accredited nurseries across the country.

This information has been disseminated to Confederation of Indian Horticulture (CIH), Commodity-based Growers’ Associations, State Horticulture Missions, NHB State Offices and all the related stakeholders.

In order to facilitate the farmers to procure choice planting material for the ensuing planting season, the NHB has uploaded this information on the website.   

Photo by Melissa Askew on Unsplash