Last week, the Centre capped the limit of private players for buying wheat from the open market from the earlier 50,000 tonnes to 10,000 tonnes.

“This goes against the interests of the farmers, as they would now have to sell their produce only to the central procurement agencies,” said Chandumajra. He added that, “The Centre’s move will deprive Punjab’s farmers from getting additional money on account of buoyancy in international wheat prices.”

He lamented that while farmers were already hit hard owing to low MSP fixed for wheat, the Centre was also denying them other benefits. “The private players who buy wheat from the open market pay the farmers a higher rate for their produce than the fixed MSP,” he said.