Haryana farmers can opt for direct transfer of paddy proceeds

CHANDIGARH: This kharif season, farmers in Haryana have an option to receive the proceeds towards the paddy they sell directly in their bank accounts.

E-procurement for paddy will begin in the coming procurement season, said a senior official at the Haryana State Agricultural and Marketing Board. "It will provide online rates in different mandis to farmers and ensure best rates for their produce."

The e-procurement will be launched in 31 mandis and is targeted to cover 108 mandis by 2017 in the state.

"For the ease of farmers, the direct payments into accounts has been kept optional," the official said. The e-procurement will require the farmers to register their mobile numbers, crop details, acreage and time of harvest through online or through the e-seva centres, he said

"Farmers will be informed about the time to bring produce to the mandi," the official said. The mechanism is built to check delay in the procurement and exploitation of farmers at the hands of middlemen and procurement agencies, he said.

At present farmers rarely get paid directly for their produce and mostly payments come through middlemen. A root cause of this exploitation is that farmers avail of unsecured advances from middlemen or arthiyas who also sell their produce. The middleman pays the farmer after he had recovered the loan and a hefty interest. It usually leads to frequent delay in payments and under payment across.

Also, since the cash payment is backed by little documentation, the income of farmers is not established and is only known to the commission agents.

It hurts the farmers' ability to take adequate loans from banks, a bank official said. "The scheme would open host of financial services to farmers in Haryana."