Nagpur: Prices of wheat, the rabi crop grown in parts of Vidarbha, have slipped by more than Rs1,000 a quintal as compared to last year and farmers blame West Asia conflict for it. Messages are doing rounds that wheat may not fetch more than a couple of thousands a quintal as the war has hampered exports leading to a glut in domestic markets.As rates crash, there is no active procurement of the crop at minimum support price (MSP), point out farmers. The current prices are even below the MSP which is at Rs2,585 a quintal. Rather wheat procurement has not been the focus in the state.Though not a mainstay agriculture produce, wheat is expected to be grown in over 13 lakh hectare in Maharashtra during the rabi season. The harvest happens in March, farmers told TOI.Last year, the mill quality wheat fetched a price of Rs2,800-3,000 a quintal and the rates have now dipped to Rs2,100 per quintal. In Vidarbha farmers grow wheat in areas where irrigation facilities are available.A trader at Kalamna Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) yard Atul Senad also admitted that the prices are not more than Rs2,200. There are a number of reasons, it can be due to the war or there is just an excessive production this year. The wheat grown in the region is generally purchased by millers for making refined flour, he says.Manish Jadhav, a farmer and activist at Yavatmal, says despite a substantial area under wheat, there is no system for procuring the crop under MSP. Though food crops like soyabean and tur are procured under the govt intervention mechanism in Maharashtra, he said.At Kali Daulat Khan village of Yavatmal, Shaikh Zakir says he cultivated wheat in two acres of land. With a yield of 23 quintal in all, he stands to barely earn a profit of Rs11,000 this year. Last year he netted Rs20,000. Even tur has fetched a price below the MSP of Rs8,000. “I sold tur at the MSP centre in the previous season, now I had to settle at Rs7,200 from a private trader,” he said.Vikas Rathore, from Katkheda village in the same district, says the rates are as low as Rs1,800 a quintal in his area. With 50 quintals of wheat grown in five acre, the profits still may not be more than Rs20,000, he claims. “A bag of seeds itself costs Rs2,200 and I need 12 bags for five acres. The total expenses came to Rs 90,000 and selling the wheat may fetch a little more than one lakh,” he said.
