Rohtak, Aug. 13 -- The number of wheat farmers in Haryana who sold their produce at the minimum support price (MSP) fixed by the Centre nearly doubled over the past five years, reaching 6 lakh and making the state the third-largest beneficiary of wheat MSP procurement in the country. According to a report tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, the number of Haryana wheat farmers benefiting from MSP rose from 3.14 lakh in 2022-23 to 6.04 lakh in 2026-27, an increase of nearly 93%. The figures revealed that during this period the value of MSP payments got doubled from Rs.8,434 crore in 2022-23 to Rs.20,992 crore in 2026-27 According to the figures, Haryana ranks third in the country in terms of the number of wheat farmers benefiting from MSP, behind Madhya Pradesh (13.42 lakh beneficiaries) and Punjab (8.14 lakh). The rise has been particularly pronounced in the latest procurement season as Haryana had 4.49 lakh wheat farmers benefiting from MSP in 2025-26, but the number jumped to 6.04 lakh in 2026-27, the highest in the five-year period under review, putting a question mark on the procurement. Similarly, the value of MSP payments has also followed an upward trajectory-from Rs.8,434 crore in 2022-23 to Rs.13,423 crore in 2023-24, Rs.16,267 crore in 2024-25 and Rs.17,176 crore in 2025-26, before touching Rs.20,992 crore in 2026-27. Officials of the state agriculture department said that state government's mandatory registration over the e-kharid portal is a key reason behind the surge in the number of MSP beneficiaries as the farmers in Haryana cannot sell their produce on MSP without the registration on the Meri-Fasal-Mera-Bayora portal "Registration of a genuine farmer cannot be linked to bogus procurement, as land records are mandatory for registration on the e-Kharid portal. In fact, now almost all farmers register to avail the benefit of MSP," said a senior government officer, requesting anonymity, when asked about the reasons as Haryana had also faced allegations of bogus procurement during the last kharif and rabi procurement seasons....