The government has set up 6,000 procurement centres across the state for procurement of wheat at minimum support price from the farmers.
With the aim to double the income of the farmers, the UP government has introduced new devices and technology so that the farmers may receive the best price of their produce.
In this regard, for the first time in the country, the has introduced the electronic point of purchase (e-POP) machines for eliminating middlemen from the Marketing process while ensuring transparency in the purchase of wheat.
Uttar Pradesh is the first state in the country to initiate procurement by providing biometric authentication through e-POP device in wheat purchase with the aim to benefit real farmers and eliminate the role of middlemen and unauthorised persons in procurement under the minimum price support scheme.
The first procurement of wheat through e-POP was successfully made at Kundarki purchase centre of Moradabad district on April 7. The procurement of wheat through e-POP machines will start at various other purchase centres in the state soon.
In the Rabi marketing year 2021-22, procurement of wheat directly from farmers under the minimum support price scheme commenced on April 1, 2021. The government has increased the MSP of wheat from Rs 1,925 in 2020-21 to Rs 1,975 per quintal in 2021-22. Besides, the number of procurement centres has increased from 5,000 last year to 6,000 this time.
For the first time in the country, the Yogi Adityanath government has decided to involve Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs) in the procurement of wheat. As many as 150 FPOs have been roped in the state to start with.