Chandigarh, June 2 (IANS) Haryana will procure 13,784 tonnes of sunflower at the minimum support price of Rs 5,650 per quintal and the procurement will start from June 5, Additional Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal said on Tuesday.

He said the sunflower crop is mainly grown in Kurukshetra, Ambala, Panchkula and Yamunanagar districts.

The state has designated the Haryana State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Ltd (HAFED) and Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC) for procurement of sunflower.

He said in order to double farmers' income and provide remunerative prices to the farmers, the state has decided to procure sunflower.

To encourage the crop diversification programme, the state has taken several steps to promote oilseed and pulses crops.

In the previous year, the state had procured 13,156 tonnes as against 2,375 tonnes of sunflower approved by the Central government.