Kanchanpur. Farmers have expressed dissatisfaction with the support price fixed by the government.

The government has fixed the support price of wheat at Rs 3,945 this year. However, farmers are worried that they will not be able to meet the cost of wheat fixed by the government.

Farmers have complained that the cost of production has increased due to the recent increase in the price of petroleum products. “The cost of ploughing and threshing has increased compared to last year. Rajesh Rana of Bhimdutta municipality-16 in Kanchanpur district said, “The price fixed by the government will not raise our investment. Rana, who has already cultivated wheat, said that farmers never get proper price for their produce.

Despite the government’s fixed price of wheat, the Kanchanpur-based Food Management and Trading Company Limited has not purchased wheat from the farmers. “The government has fixed the price but has not started purchasing wheat from the farmers. Anita Bogati of Dodhara Chandani-2 said, “Farmers are compelled to sell wheat at a lower price as the government has not fixed the support price on time and delay in purchasing wheat.” Bishnu Joshi, a local, said that the government does not fix the support price of wheat on time and even if it fixes it, the delay in the procurement process and hassles have been causing the middlemen to purchase the produce of the farmers at a lower price. “We do not have space to store the wheat we produce, the government does not purchase it on time. ”

He said that the government should fix the price of farmers’ produce keeping in mind the increase in prices of other commodities in the market. Mahikaran Mahara, chief of the office of the Food Management and Trade Company Limited, Mahendranagar, said that they have not been able to purchase wheat from the farmers as the quota for wheat procurement has not been fixed. “The quota for wheat procurement from this centre has not been determined yet”, he said, adding, “We will issue notice for the purchase of wheat once the quota is determined”. Kanchanpur has total arable land of 161,741 hectares. Of this, wheat is cultivated on 31,210 hectares of land.