Wheat arrivals surpass previous year’s figures in Ambala, Kurukshetra districts

Tribune News Service

Nitish Sharma

Ambala, May 11

As the season for procurement of wheat enters its last leg, statistics show the total arrivals so far have already surpassed those of the previous season in Ambala and Kurukshetra districts.

Farmers not paid on time

The weather remained favourable, resulting in a bumper crop. The procurement was smooth, but due to slow lifting, the farmers didn’t receive their payments on time. The government should ensure the farmers are paid within 72 hours of procurement instead of the 15-20 days that they are made to wait due to poor lifting. Rakesh Bains, BKU (Charuni) Spokesman

As per the data procured, around 2.22 lakh MT of wheat stocks arrived across the various grain markets of Ambala district last year, while the total arrivals had already crossed 2.43 lakh MT by Thursday evening this year. In Kurukshetra district, while last year the total arrival was registered at around 4.80 lakh MT, this year over 5.60 lakh MT of wheat had arrived in the various mandis across the district until yesterday.

While 85 per cent of the total procured stocks have been lifted in Ambala, the procurement agencies in Kurukshetra have lifted 89 per cent of the stocks. The Agriculture Department said the prolonged winter season helped farmers harvest a bumper yield.

Kurukshetra District Food and Supplies Controller (DFSC) Surender Saini said, “The prolonged winter helped farmers harvest a bumper crop. While last year, around 4.80 lakh MT stocks arrived, this year, over 5.60 lakh MT have arrived. An increase of around 80,000 MT has been recorded in comparison to last year. About 89 per cent of the total procured stocks have been lifted from the grain markets, and the remaining will be lifted soon.”

Ambala Deputy Director of Agriculture (DDA) Dr Jasvinder Saini said, “The harvesting has been completed in the district, and as expected, a bumper crop has reached the grain markets. While the average yield last year in Ambala was around 18.50 quintals per acre, this year the average yield was about 20–21 quintals per acre.”

Rajiv Chaudhary, district marketing enforcement officer for Ambala and Kurukshetra, said: “The grain markets of both the districts have reported higher arrivals compared to last year. The arrivals have been declining gradually and may come to an end within the next two to three days. Directions have been issued to improve the lifting in both districts.”

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