The Madhya Pradesh government has agreed to procure 60 per cent of the moong crop from eligible farmers, extended the procurement deadline and halted the e-token system for fertiliser distribution

The announcement came on Wednesday night following talks between representatives of the state government and farmer leaders at the state secretariat, hours after thousands of protesters marched to within about a km of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav's residence after staging a demonstration outside Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's house

The government said it had decided to increase procurement from each eligible farmer from the existing 25 per cent to 60 per cent of the moong crop in the larger interest of farmers

The government also extended the last date for procurement from August 10 to August 20 and the slot-booking deadline from July 30 to August 10

Some farmer leaders initially maintained their demand for procurement of 100 per cent of the moong crop at the minimum support price (MSP) and said a final decision would be taken after consulting all stakeholders and that the agitation would continue.