Lucknow, October 2025 – The Uttar Pradesh government has officially kicked off the procurement of millets and coarse grains under its “Shri Anna” initiative, starting October 1 and running through December 31.
📋 What’s Being Procured & Timeline
- The procurement drive covers maize, pearl millet, and sorghum (jowar).
- Only registered farmers are eligible to sell under this scheme. Registration or renewal is being done online via fcs.up.gov.in or the UP Kisan Mitra app.
- The procurement centres will use biometric verification (e‑POP devices) to ensure transparency and prevent middlemen interference.
- Payments will be credited directly to farmers’ Aadhaar‑linked bank accounts.
💰 Increased Support Prices & Targets
- The government has raised the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for these coarse grains to make millet cultivation more attractive.
- Hybrid sorghum (jowar): ₹3,699 per quintal (≈ 9.73% increase)
- Maldandi sorghum: ₹3,749 per quintal
- Pearl millet: ₹2,775 per quintal
- Maize: ₹2,400 per quintal
- The state aims to procure roughly 50,000 metric tonnes of jowar alone in this Kharif season, a 74% increase over last year’s target.
- Procurement is planned in 11 districts specifically for jowar including Kanpur (rural & urban), Jalaun, Banda, Chitrakoot, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Fatehpur, Mirzapur, Unnao, and Hardoi.
🚀 Why This Matters
- The move is part of UP’s push to promote nutritious millets (Shri Anna) which are climate‑resilient and more sustainable.
- It supports the state’s broader goals of increasing farmer incomes, reducing dependence on water‑intensive crops, and diversifying grain production.
- The government also plans to integrate millets into public food schemes like midday meals and enhance procurement processing & market linkages.
