With the kharif season underway across Vidarbha, farmers in Nagpur district are being forced to queue at agricultural markets from as early as 3 am to sell their urad (black gram) and tur crops, with no guaranteed buyer even after hours of waiting — a crisis that underscores the procurement failures plaguing the region’s farming communities ahead of the critical sowing window.
The problem is acute at nagpur’s agriculture produce market committees, where farmers begin gathering well before dawn. The district administration has now issued revised procurement norms, requiring farmers to identify buyers in advance and capping individual purchases at a maximum of five quintals of urad and D.P. (pigeon pea) per person to prevent bulk cornering of supply.
All wholesale traders and retailers have been directed to mandatorily record every sale transaction in their account books. Authorities have warned that any price collusion or black market diversion will attract strict action, including cancellation of trading licences at agriculture service centres.
Vidarbha, which accounts for a significant share of Maharashtra’s pulse production, has seen recurring procurement bottlenecks during kharif. The situation in nagpur reflects a wider pattern across the region, where farmers — many from rain-dependent smallholdings — are compelled to sell under pressure rather than await fair prices.
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