Government to begin millet procurement from today

Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative to brand millets as ‘Sri Anna’ (divine foodgrain), the Uttar Pradesh government has launched efforts to boost millet production. The goal is to more than double the cultivated area of these indigenous crops, expanding it from approximately 1.1 million hectares to over 2.5 million hectares.

Uttar Pradesh is among the top millet producing states in India with its basket comprising Jowar (Sorghum), Makka (Maize), Bajra (Pearl Millet), Ragi (Finger Millet) and Sanwa (barnyard millet) among others.

As part of the ongoing efforts and a statewide initiative, preparations for the purchase of coarse grains by setting up dedicated purchase centres in Prayagraj division have now been finalised.

Officials informed that the purchase of coarse grains for 2024-25 will commence on October 1 and continue until December 31. The government has completed all the preparations for this process in the Prayagraj division.

BC Gautam, Prayagraj’s regional food marketing officer informed that 27 purchase centres have been set up for the purchase in the division and procurement will start from October 1.

Among these, 10 centres have been set up in Prayagraj, 11 in Kaushambi and six in Fatehpur. Separate centres have been set up for both millet and sorghum. A total of 16 purchase centres have been set up for sorghum and 11 for millets in the division, he added.

The registration for new farmers and renewal of existing registrations are currently underway for the procurement of millets and sorghum. For this, it is mandatory for farmers to register on fcs.up.gov.in or Kisan Mitra App, officials shared.

Purchasing will be done only from registered farmers. Toll free number 18001800150 has also been issued to resolve the problems of farmers. Apart from this, farmers can also tell share their problems with the district food marketing officer, regional food marketing officer and food marketing inspector.

Additionally, the government has also increased the minimum support price of the millets. The minimum support price of maize has been fixed at ₹2225 per quintal, ₹2625 per quintal for Bajra, ₹3371 per quintal for Sorghum (hybrid) and ₹3421 per quintal for sorghum (Malwandi), said officials.

“The payments to farmers would be made within 48 hours of the purchase directly in bank account linked to the farmer’s Aadhaar,” said BC Gautam, Prayagraj’s regional food marketing officer.

Due to the policy of promoting Sri Anna, the production of coarse grains is also increasing in the state. Divisional food marketing officer Informed that in 2023-24, 147.66 metric tonnes of coarse grains were purchased in Prayagraj division, which benefited 1364 Sri Anna producing farmers. Likewise, 146.45 metric tonnes of bajra were purchased in the division and a total of 1344 Shri Anna producing farmers benefited from its purchase. Similarly, 1.21 metric tonnes of jowar were purchased and 20 farmers benefited from it.