Haryana: ‘Slow pace’ of wheat lifting hobbles farmers

The arrival of wheat was earlier delayed due to adverse weather conditions. Apart from the temperature being below normal in February and March, spells of rain and hailstorm in parts of Haryana accompanied by strong winds had caused partial damage. This also led to moisture content being higher than the permissible limit. Procurement season had officially started from April 1, but it is over the past few days that arrival of wheat has increased.

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The farmers, however rue that the pace of lifting of wheat is slow. “In mandis across the state, the lifting of wheat is going on at a slow pace. One of the reasons is that while allotting tenders, there is no deadline given to those who have to lift. Due to this, generally when there is a glut in the market, the arhtiyas are forced to pay more for lifting as there is no storage space. The same thing happened last year and for lifting Rs 2 to Rs 7 a quintal was charged”, said Gurnam Singh Chaduni, president of Bharatiya Kisan Union.

He adds that the space for storage of wheat is not sufficient in the grain markets. While sheds are present, if lifting is not done on time, these are not adequate to handle wheat causing problems for farmers and commission agents.