Punjab's farmers are back!

Punjab's farmers are back at Adani silos to sell wheat to the FCI.

In Oct 2020, farmers had laid siege to the Adani Group-run silos in Punjab, bringing fresh procurement and transportation of the stored crop to a halt.

Months after lifting the year-long siege at the Adani Group-run silos in Moga, over protest against the Centre's now-repealed agricultural laws, local farmers are back at their doors instead of going to government procurement centres.

Reason. Farmers from nearby villages claim they save time and get hassle-free service at these silos constructed and operated by Adani Agro Logistics at Dagru village in Moga district.

Notably, the private firm has no control over the procurement process, as the silos have been rented by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) which purchases the crop from farmers at the minimum support price (MSP) fixed by the government as is being done by state agencies at mandis.

In Oct 2020, farmers had laid siege to the silos, bringing fresh procurement and transportation of the stored crop to a halt, soon after the Centre passed the three farm laws deregulating the system of government-run wholesale markets that the unions feared would leave them at the mercy of private players.

The protest was lifted after the laws were repealed in November last year. Now, farmers are again crowding the silos but to unload their crop. Balbir Singh, a farmer waiting in a queue of tractor-trolleys with his produce, says it takes at least 24-30 hours for lifting the crop at mandis but at the Adani silo they get free in less than 10 hours.

"We have to unload the wheat at mandis and use a winnowing fan to clean it before putting it into the gunny bags. Here, we directly unload our produce from trolleys", he says.

Another farmer, Jasvir Singh says the whole trolley is weighed at one time and they have to do nothing else. "We come here only for the hassle-free system; otherwise the price paid is the same. However, there are no other charges, including winnowing and cleaning labour, which costs around Rs.15 - 16/- per quintal", he says. The total savings come to around Rs.1,300 - 1,400/- per trolley.

Procurement sees threefold jump

The silos which got operational in 2007 with a capacity to store two-lakh tonnes of grain, were constructed after signing a 20-year contract with the FCI for providing storage and transportation infrastructure. Complete railhead exists within the silos premises and bulk transportation is made using specialised trains.

The FCI pays Rs.10 crores as rent to Adani Group for each procurement season to store agricultural produce. Other charges are paid separately when produce is moving through trains.

Initially, the silos started directly procuring the wheat from farmers without involving arhtiyas (commission agents). It saved the commission amount but hit the procurement process. In 2010, the FCI involved the arhtiyas and is procuring around 70,000 - 80,000 tonnes grain through them every rabi season.

Amandeep Singh Soni, cluster manager, Adani Agri Logistics, Moga, said : "The company has no role in deciding the volume of storage as well as pricing of grain, as it's only an infrastructure and service provider for the FCI, which controls the procurement and movement of food grains for the public distribution system (PDS). This year, 22,000 tonnes of grain has been stored in silos so far, compared to 7,000 tonnes during the same period in past years. Last year, there was no procurement due to the farmers' protest".

The company runs another silo at Faridkot district's Kotkapura with a capacity to store 25,000 tonnes of food grain. Faridkot district food and civil supplies controller, Jasjit Kaur, said no procurement has been started by the FCI at the Kotkapura silos so far.

Meanwhile, there is a mixed response from farmer unions over the procurement process at Adani Group's silos. Some groups are asking farmers to refrain while some support it.

Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan, general secretary of BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan), said that farmers are getting some small benefits by procurement through silos. Kirti Kisan Union vice president, Rajinder Singh Deep Singh Wala said farmers must oppose the private players as this will hurt them in future. "They will offer some relief to capture the market and when government mandi system collapses, they will have all the control", he alleged.

- Prateek Singh Mahal in Chandigarh News

My take

Just accentuates the Supreme Court appointed committee's - that reviewed the three farm laws - conclusion that over 86% of the farmers supported the laws! The year-long protest was the handiwork 

of trouble-makers-propped-up by foreign funds to bring about anarchy in this country, to show Modi in poor light. The brood of arhtiyas - thriving on commissions and making a fortune without doing any work - need to be extinct as they cannot be allowed to take advantage of the hapless farmer.

Tailpiece.

Got up around 6, the chores and was ready by 10. Wished Suma kunjamma many happy returns on the occasion of her 70th birthday.

Suraj had taken me to town so that I could do the following :-

    * do bank work

    * book the 'Adhyaatmika' Hall for Indira kunjamma's 'Narayaneeyam' bhajan mandali on 09 Jul

    * buy grocery from Harisree Supermarket and

    * buy our fruit basket.

A quiet day otherwise!