HP to Buy Natural Wheat & Turmeric from May 15

Shimla, May 14 (PTI) Purchase of wheat and turmeric produced from natural farming will start in Himachal Pradesh from Thursday and the procurement price has been fixed at Rs 60 and Rs 90, respectively, officials said on Wednesday.

"All preparations have been made for procurement of naturally grown wheat and raw turmeric from May 15 onwards and collection centres have been set up in different districts," State Project Director Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Kisan Yojana (PK3Y) Hemis Negi said.

He said the state government has fixed the highest minimum support price for the naturally grown wheat at Rs 60 per kg and raw turmeric at the rate of Rs 90 per kg.

About 213.43 metric tonne of natural wheat will be procured from 1,001 farmers through 22 collection centres in the state while 17.41 metric tonnes of raw turmeric will be procured from 75 farmers through 10 collection centres, officials told PTI here.

The ATMA (Agriculture Technology Management Agency) functionaries in the field will facilitate the procurement process, which is being done to encourage the farmers to take to non-chemical natural farming techniques aimed at sustainable agriculture, he said.

Project Director of ATMA Project (Hamirpur) Nitin Kumar Sharma said the state government has fixed the purchase price of wheat produced from natural farming at Rs 60 per kg and freight subsidy at Rs 2 per kg and a farmer can sell a maximum of 20 quintal wheat. It will be purchased by Himachal Pradesh State Civil Supplies Corporation.

Turmeric growers will fetch Rs 90 per kg -- almost double the price of the conventionally grown crop. The procurement will be done from 10 am to 4 pm daily till May 25.