Traffic on Delhi-Chandigarh National Highway 44 continues to be affected on Tuesday with farmers blocking the road at Pipli in Haryana’s Kurukshetra over the demand for implementation of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 6,400 for sunflower seeds.

Speaking to The Statesman, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) Haryana president Rattan Mann said the protest will continue till the state government implements the Rs 6,400 MSP for sunflower seeds as announced by the Centre.

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“Farmers are being forced to sell sunflower seeds for Rs 4200 to Rs 4800 in the market even as the MSP for the same is Rs 6,400.  The Centre has announced the MSP and it’s the duty of the state government to implement it. We will continue the protest till the government accepts over demands,” he said over the phone from the protest site at Pipli.

Mann said besides farmers’ unions in Haryana, the protest is being supported by unions in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. He said the government is yet to respond to their demands and farmers will hold a meeting on Tuesday to decide their future course of action after two rounds of talks with the district administration failed to yield any outcome.

BKU leader Rakesh Tikait said the issue of MSP for sunflower crops is not only affecting farmers in Haryana but the entire farmer community.  “We are demanding an MSP law for all crops, as promised by the union government when we withdrew the ‘Kisan Andolan’ (farmers’ agitation against the now repealed farm laws),” he said.

Superintendent of Police (SP), Kurukshetra, SS Bhoria said efforts are being made to persuade the farmers to lift the blockade. He hoped a solution will soon be found. The blockade has been continuing since Monday afternoon causing problems for commuters using the highway.

The blockade started after “MSP Dilao, Kisan Bachao Mahapanchayat”, called by the BKU (Charuni), was held at a grain market in Pipli close to national highway-44.

Earlier on 6 June, farmers blocked the Delhi-Amritsar National Highway in Kurukshetra to protest against the Haryana government’s decision to not buy sunflower seeds at the MSP. The police resorted to using water cannons and lathi-charge to disperse the agitating farmers.

Later, nine BKU (Charuni) leaders, including its president, were arrested over various charges, including rioting and unlawful assembly. Tikait had said the government should procure sunflowers on MSP and the farmer leaders arrested in Shahabad should be released.

Haryana  Chief Minister Manohar  Lal Khattar on Saturday said some farmer unions and political leaders are defaming the name of farmers by misleading them.

“Blocking highways is not the solution to everything. In a democracy, we can’t hinder anyone’s freedom. We have done a lot for the farmers.  We held positive talks with the farmers. The court order also said that the matter should be resolved amicably. The police followed the court’s decision.  I urge the farmers that this agitation is not going to help them anyway. The decision would be taken as per the market rate, ” said the CM while addressing a Press conference.

He said the state government will soon take a positive decision for the sunflower farmers after a detailed study about the market rate of the crop.

Khattar had also released Rs 29.13 Crore as interim compensation to 8,528 farmers for sunflowers grown on 36,414 acres. Under the Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana — price difference payment scheme — the state government is giving Rs 1,000 per quintal as interim support for sunflower crops sold below MSP.

“When we procured the Millet on MSP,  later it was found that the farmers of other states are also selling their Millet crops in our Mandis. This created an issue of interstate smuggling. Now a similar possibility is arising in the sunflower procurement,  so as a precaution, we have announced the interim bharpai, as the market rates keep fluctuating,”.

“At present,  the procurement of sunflower is being done at Rs  4800, while Punjab is procuring the same at Rs 4000-4200. So we doubt that Punjab farmers will also procure their crop in our mandis, ” he added.