NEW DELHI: The Centre on Friday assured that not a single grain produced by farmers would be left without being procured in the country during the Covid-19 crisis.The assurance came from Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar who said the procurement of wheat would begin during April 15-20 and states had already been advised to stagger procurement, increase number of procurement centres and issue tokens to farmers in order to prevent large congregation at mandis once procurement starts.Addressing his first media briefing through video conference during the lockdown period, Tomar said procurement would be carried out in three phases and completed by June end.Though he admitted that the farmers have been facing problems due to unavoidable lockdown, he said the government was taking all necessary steps to minimise this pain.The ministry had earlier allowed public sector procurement agencies to procure pulses and oilseeds from 13 states. Accordingly, the NAFED has procured 1,07,814 metric tonnes of pulses and over 1,600 metric tonnes of oilseed on minimum support price (MSP) worth over Rs 526 crore.“This has benefitted 75,984 farmers,” said the minister while sharing report of his ministry on measures being taken for harvesting and procurement of Rabi (winter sown) crops.The report shows that though wheat is still to be harvested in most of the areas, mustard has already been harvested in 95%-97% area in Rajasthan , MP, Haryana and UP. Similarly, gram has been harvested in 95% area in MP, Rajasthan, Telangana Maharashtra , UP ( Bundelkhand ) and Andhra Pradesh . The wheat producing states have, so far, reported only 26-33% of harvesting against the total sown area.According the ministry’s report, about 7.77 crore landholder farmers have received Rs 2,000 each under the Centre’s income support scheme - Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) - during the lockdown period. “An amount of Rs 15,531 crore has been released so far under the scheme during the lockdown period,” said Tomar.The ministry on Thursday issued multiple orders, sensitising states on procurement of farm produce including perishable horticultural crops from across the country. So far, more than 1600 fruits/vegetables ‘mandis’ have been opened in coordination with state governments and various Mandi Boards.“Many state governments and local bodies are providing delivery at consumers’ doorsteps through mobile Apps. The agriculture ministry will also come out with an App to coordinate these efforts at central level,” said the minister.