Over 15 lakh tonnes (LT) of wheat that has been procured in the current season and stored in open,in Punjab faces the risk of getting damaged due to rains,sources said. We have identified about 15.5 lakh tonne of wheat which faces a risk of getting damaged because of rain this year, a senior official of Food Corporation of India (FCI) said on Tuesday. The grain is mainly stored in open fields,grain market yards and low-lying areas at several places,including Ludhiana,Fatehgarh Sahib and Amritsar. After a record procurement of 128 lakh tonne in 2012-13 rabi marketing season from Punjab,a total of about 31 LT was stored in an improper manner. Out of 31 lakh tonne,15.5 lakh tonne was stored in open and mandi yards while remaining grain was stored at rice mills,sugar mills which are regarded as storage in an unscientific manner, he said. In the past four years,about 97,000 tonne of wheat has got damaged in Punjab because of lack of proper storage arrangements. The FCI now plans to evacuate the stock during the first week of next month by speeding up movement to other states. It has already requested to Railway authorities to provide more rakes. Shift 1 m hectare under paddy from Punjab,Haryana: CACP New Delhi: There is a need to reduce area under paddy cultivation by one million hectare in Punjab and Haryana and shift its cultivation to eastern India,Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) government body that suggests pricing policy for agricultural commodities stated on Tuesday. Every year,water table is going down by 33 per cent in Punjab,Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Overmining of water is creating pollution because of distortionary policy on inputs like power. One of the ways to address this issue is to shift some paddy cultivation, CACP Chairman Ashok Gulati said while speaking at a workshop on capturing the potential for GHG offsets in indian agriculture. Saying that more than 90 per cent of paddy fields in Punjab and Haryana are irrigated,Gulati added: Over dependence on tubewells is draining out groundwater level in these two states. The move will also cut greenhouse gas emissions from the farm sector. The countrys agriculture sector contributes 17 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions.
