Madhya Pradesh: Hit by wheat export ban, merchants name mandi strike

This comes a day after Gopaldas Aggarwal, president of Sakhal Anaj Dalhan Tilhan Vyapari Mahasangh Samittee, said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that round 7,000 vans loaded with wheat had lined up outdoors the Kandla and Mumbai ports over the previous 10 days.

Aggarwal identified that from these 7,000 vans, no less than 4,000 vans belonged to merchants from MP who’ve been bhit badly by the ban.

Madhya Pradesh is the one state the place wheat manufacturing has not been affected by the heatwave, which has left farmers with shrivelled grains in different states.

The Centre, by means of a notification on Might 13, had banned export of wheat, transferring all types of wheat from “free” to “prohibited” class. It has solely allowed two sorts of export: these granted permission for export to nations to satisfy their meals safety wants, and contracted exports in opposition to which irrevocable letter of credit have been issued on or earlier than Might 13.

Aggarwal stated many merchants whose vans have been caught at Kandla port in Gujarat have been assembly calls for raised by exporters. “The merchants had no information whether or not the exporter involved had the Letter of Credit score,” he stated. “This sudden ban will probably be a crushing blow to them. We would like the federal government to make preparations for such merchants.”

A delegation of merchants’ affiliation headed by Aggarwal, met state Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel on Monday and raised their calls for.

Nimish Aggarwal, president of merchants’ affiliation at Ujjain mandi, stated: “No dealer throughout the state will take part in auctioning for the following two days. We would like farmers to understand that the sudden ban is a crushing blow to merchants by the federal government, on account of which we are able to’t afford to offer them excessive charges. We are going to face losses to the tune of nealy Rs 1 lakh per truck.”

Farmers, in the meantime, are bracing for a steep drop in wheat charges as soon as mandis begin operations. Charges dropping a lot under MSP will depart farmers with little choices however to promote their produce to the state authorities at MSP of Rs 2,015. Mukesh Bangdwa, who had sown wheat over 20 acres, remains to be left with 200 quintals of the 400 quintals from his whole manufacturing this yr.

Bangdwa had bought 200 quintals at Rs 2,125 per quintal on the mandi quickly after harvest. However after the ban imposed by the federal government, he stated the speed is Rs 1,850 per quintal for a similar sort of wheat.

“Wheat which I bought for Rs 2,125 was of comparatively poor high quality with excessive moisture content material. I had stocked up the remaining 200 quintals and acquired it cleaned and dried, hoping to get no less than Rs 2,500 per quintal with improved high quality however that appears not possible. I’ll endure a lack of anyplace between Rs 75,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh because of the ban,” Bangdwa stated.

Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel stated about 40 lakh metric tonnes of wheat have been procured within the title of exports however solely 10-12 lakh metric tonnes have reached the port for export. “This reveals there may be hoarding by middlemen. It’s not a whole ban on wheat export; merchants can proceed to produce to nations (that have to import to) meet their meals safety calls for with correct approval and letter of credit score,” he stated.

He additionally hinted at a doable implementation of a inventory restrict to keep away from hoarding.

Farm chief Shiv Kumar Sharma ‘Kakkaji’ accused the federal government of adjusting its coverage to swimsuit non-public gamers. “The federal government already has two years’ price of inventory of grains and nonetheless has banned export,” he stated.

Anil Yadav, state president, Bhartiya Kisan Union, accused the federal government of indulging in vote financial institution politics at the price of farmers with the ban.