Haryana Govt Assures 'Appropriate Price' For Sunflower Seeds, Farmers End Protest

Farmers led by Rakesh Tikait were on a protest in Haryana's Kurukshetra asking for minimum support price for sunflower seeds from the government, which has finally ended after the government agreed upon a fair price for the crop.

Outlook Web Desk

Updated on: 13 June 2023 5:25 pm

United We Stand: Rakesh Tikait and other farmer leaders at a ‘Khap Mahapanchayat’ in Kurukshetra

The Haryana government has assured the farmers of an 'appropriate price' for the sunflower crop after the farmers spent days protesting in Haryana's Kurukshetra. They have finally decided to call off their protest as their demand for minimum support price has been met.

According to the reports, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said after fresh talks with the district administration in the evening, the farmers have ended the protest in Kurukshetra's Pipli and the national highway blockade will be lifted.

Kurukshetra Deputy Commissioner (DC) Shantanu Sharma said that farmers have been assured of "appropriate price" for sunflower crop.

The national highway in Pipli had remained blocked for the second day Tuesday over the farmers' demand for MSP for sunflower seeds.

On Monday and during the day on Tuesday, there had not been any headway in talks between the farmers and district administration, but the breakthrough finally came in the evening.

Tikait had earlier asked the state government to accept the demand or send farmers to jail.

The protesting farmers had blocked the National Highway-44 near Pipli, which connects Delhi with Chandigarh, and some other routes since Monday afternoon after holding a mahapanchayat on the issue.

The farmers had been demanding that the state government procure sunflower seeds at an MSP of Rs 6,400 per quintal.

Under the Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana -- price difference payment scheme -- the state government was giving Rs 1,000 per quintal as interim support for sunflower crop sold below MSP.

(With PTI inputs)