The Agriculture Ministry has set up a call centre to ease the difficulties in agri logistics, particularly the inter-State movement of perishable vegetables and fruits as well as agri inputs such as seeds, pesticides and fertilisers, an official statement said on Monday.

The All India Agri Transport Call Centre, which will coordinate movement of produce and agri inputs, can be accessed at 1800-180-4200 and 14488 from any mobile or landline phone, the statement said.

Stakeholders including truck drivers, traders, retailers, and transporters who are facing problems in inter-State movement of commodities, can seek help by calling at the call centre. It will forward the vehicle and consignment details, along with the nature of help needed, to State government officials for immediate action, it said.

The Ministry also said the subsidy for seeds under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) would be available only for varieties less than 10 years old. However, this will be extended to seeds of all crops under NFSM required by the North-East States, States in hilly region as well as by the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

As many as 8.31 crore farmers were given ₹16,621 crore till Monday since the lockdown was declared on March 25. While 7.47 crore farmers received the first PM-Kisan instalment of ₹2,000 for the current financial year as advance, 83.78 lakh farmers got a total sum of ₹1,675 crore towards the last instalment pending for the previous fiscal, which ended on March 31.

The Ministry also claimed that Farmer Producer Organisations in 34 districts of Maharashtra sold 2.11 lakh tonnes of fruits and vegetables through online or direct-sell method.

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