Saifur Alom, a farmer of Sontoli in Kamrup district is a man of pride today, happy at the same time. His hard work has yielded him results. The Government of Assam has procured his mustard seed at MSP, an exercise which it started last year. Saifur feels the world is now a much better place to live in.
He has sold 145 quintals of his mustard produce, in two phases, at the procurement centre set up by Assam State Agricultural Marketing Board near his village.
“A sum of ₹5.65 lakh was deposited in my account when I sold 100 quintals at the procurement centre. I then deposited 45 quintals at the centre and received the sum due to me in quick time. Trust me, it is quite an experience to get away from the clutches of the middlemen to a more reliable system, a much more secure one,” Saifur told Asom Barta.
The Assam Government had fixed ₹5,650 per quintal as the MSP for mustard seeds for the Rabi season 2024. The Assam State Agricultural Marketing Board, and Assam Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd are the two procurement agencies which have been entrusted by the Government to look into the procurement of mustard seeds from farmers.
The experience for Joyram Barman of Singimari area in Kamrup is also one of joy. Someone associated with farming for 15 years, Joyram has sold to his satisfaction his produce at the procurement centre in Amingaon.
“Last year, we received ₹5,450 per quintal for our mustard seeds. This year, the Government has increased the per quintal value by ₹200. This is encouraging. What has also added to my happiness is the fact that compared to last year, our yield has also gone up. This has helped me sell 70 quintals at the procurement centre,” said Barman while talking to this reporter.
Pranabjyoti Bharali of Doloichuba in Morigaon has sold his produce for the first time to the Government at the mustard seed procurement centre in Raha. He is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Moirabari Krishi Producer Company Limited. “My parents were farmers. Once I started understanding farming, I joined their footsteps. We have sold 84 quintals of our produce to the Government. We are well past those days when we had to sell our mustard produce at ₹3800-₹4200 per quintal,” he said.
He informed this newsletter that 424 farmers are associated with their FPC, out of which 30% are into mustard seed farming. “We are mulling to invest the money earned from this back into agriculture,” he said while thanking the Government for taking this welfare step and appealing to it to set up a procurement centre near their area instead of Raha.
Mostafa Sheikh of Singimari Pt-II in Dhubri is also among those mustard seed cultivators who are all praises for the Government of Assam for thinking of them. “I never had it so good in the 10-years that I have been associated with farming,” he told this reporter.
