Janakpurdham. The farmers have not sold wheat to the Food Corporation of Janakpur as they are getting less than the market price. The federal government-owned Food Management and Trade Company Limited Provincial Office, Janakpurdham, has fixed a cheaper price than the market for the purchase of wheat.

The wheat procurement process was carried out on the basis of the support price fixed by the government at the rate of Rs 3,867.38 per quintal. According to the office, the farmers are providing wheat to the private sector entrepreneurs after selling wheat at Rs 4,400 per quintal in the markets including Janakpur.

Nirmal Thapa, chief of the office, said that the farmers came to the office to get information about the price of wheat, but they did not come to sell it. According to him, the wheat produced here has been sold to private traders as the purchase price is cheaper than the market.

Stating that a target has been set to procure 2,500 quintals of wheat from farmers of Dhanusha and Mahottari this year, Chief Thapa said the target has been set to procure 50 quintals of wheat from each farmer and 500 quintals from cooperatives.

The Office on Procurement of Harvested Wheat in February and March had published a notice urging the farmers to sell it. According to The Food Management and Trade Company Limited Provincial Office, Janakpurdham, free forks have been operated for the purchase of wheat within the office premises.

Stating that wheat should be cleaned for sale with the recommendation of the respective local levels of Dhanusha and Mahottari districts and prepared on the basis of the prescribed criteria, Chief Thapa said that payment for the sale would be made to the farmers through cheque.

A meeting of the committee on wheat procurement of chief district officers of Dhanusha and Mahottari was held and the procurement process began. The meeting was also attended by the officials of the concerned bodies. Although the procurement process was started on the basis of the same meeting, the farmers did not sell wheat at the office, he said.

Meanwhile, the office has said that paddy procurement has also decreased compared to the target in the current fiscal year. Of the target of procuring 32,000 quintals of paddy, only 5,346 quintals have been procured, according to Office Chief Thapa. According to the information received from the office, 26,654 quintals of paddy has been purchased less than the target set.

Paddy has not been procured as per the target as the farmers have sold their produce in the private sector market as the market price is higher than the support price fixed by the government. Chief Thapa said that although the government had directed to purchase paddy at the rate of Rs 3,580 per quintal, the office could not procure paddy as per the target as it was being sold at around Rs 4,000 per quintal in the market.

Although the office had signed agreements with four co-operative societies regarding the purchase of paddy to achieve the target, the target has not been achieved as the farmers have not come.