Wheat procurement begins,space crunch likely in days to come

While the activity in the mandi has picked up,the arhtiyas and the officials are keeping their fingers crossed.

With little space for storage,the officials have no arrangements for the peak days which will begin from April 10 and continue till April 20.

Fresh harvest is expected to arrive from around April 6.

Khanna received 11 lakh metric tonnes of wheat last year and this year this figure is expected to go higher.

The Jagraon grain market comes second. It received 10 lakh metric tonnes wheat last year while Rajpura came in third with 9 lakh metric tonnes.

Meanwhile,the production is expected to be good this year.

Balwinder Singh Sidhu,Director Agriculture says,“Wheat arrival in the mandis will begin around April 6.

The crop looks good but with the temperatures rising,late maturing wheat will also ripen along with the timely sown wheat so we can expect huge quantities of wheat to arrive in mandis.”

It is learnt that Department of Food and Civil Supplies has made arrangement to procure 115 lakh tonnes of wheat and Punjab’s production this year is likely to touch 160 lakh metric tonnes.

After April 6,around 5-6 lakh metric tonnes of wheat will arrive in the mandis daily.

Making arrangements for its storage will be a true test for us,” says an official of the department.

Harbans Singh Rosha,a trader,says,“The goodowns near Macchiwara are already full. Temporary arrangements have been made in flour mills around Khanna and rice shellers have been put on an alert. Lack of storage space may end up choking the mandis.”