Rain wary farmers go for panic harvest

However for the procurement officials it has become a tough task as they have to use the open areas in the mandi to spread the crop for drying.

Contacted,Ferozepur Deputy Commissioner,S Karuna Raju said: “The moisture content in the crop being brought to mandis is more than 16 per cent compared to our requirement of less than 12 per cent. The arrival of crop has picked pace and we are finding it hard to store it within the mandis.”

Raju,who inspected the stock in the different mandis on Tuesday,said,“Even today it was not sunny. It all now depends on the weather for the stock to dry.”

Till now Ferozepur has received 2.25 lakh tonnes of wheat,he said adding that more space is being created to store the stock as “it is coming in like a flood now.”

Voicing similar concerns,the Mansa DC,Amit Dhaka,said that farmers already hit by untimely rain,are now going for panic harvesting. “Crop is full of moisture and we are making arrangements to dry it within the mandis,” he added.

C Roul,Principal Secretary,Defence Service Welfare,Punjab,visited the Salem Tabri grain market on Tuesday and urged the farmers to adhere to the moisture norms so that their stock could be be lifted at the earliest. Ludhiana mandis have procured about three lakh tonnes of wheat till date.

Only Fazilka,where weather did not affect the harvesting much,has received crop with low moisture level,DC,Basant Garg,said.

Wheat procurement in Punjab,which contributes almost half of the total purchases,is pegged at 35.17 lakh tonne in the current season,as against 39.36 lakh tonne in the same period last year.

“The wheat arrival is picking up. In next two-three days,the daily crop arrival will reach peak of 8-9 lakh tonne in grain markets,” an FCI official said. An average daily arrival of wheat at present is 6 lakh tonne.

Meanwhile,the Ahrtiyas have alleged that the state government has not yet finalised the rates for lifting of wheat from city and focal point mandis. Nand Kishore Gugan,President of Ahrtiya Association,Ferozepur,said,“In the city mandis,the transport charges are only Rs 4 a quintal while in focal point mandis it is Rs 35 a quintal. Because of the rate difference,stock gets piled up in city mandis.”

Allowing export will solve storage problem: Sukhbir

CHANDIGARH: Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday urged the Centre to take an early call on allowing export of wheat to Pakistan and other CIS countries through the Integrated Check Post in Attari,saying the move would solve the “twin problems” of storage and extra production of the crop. \”Besides,it would give remunerative price to hard working farmers of the country and help strengthen bilateral ties between India and Pakistan,” he added.

Sukhbir further said that an Empowered Group of Ministers,which will meet on Wednesday to take a decision on allowing export of sugar and cotton,should also consider exporting wheat “as this year,Punjab and other wheat producing states are set to witness record production”.

Accusing the Centre of failing to mobilise the Railways to move last season’s paddy stock from warehouses in the state,Sukhbir said export of wheat was imperative for Punjab as it is facing a “severe shortage of space” to store the crop.

“Punjab mandis were glut with wheat produce as the state hopes to cross the target of 115 lakh tonnes of wheat procurement this year. As many as 1,750 purchase centres across the state were working day and night to procure wheat and every farmer was being paid within 48 hours of lifting of their stock,” he added.