7.29 LMT paddy procured in Amritsar district so far

Amritsar, October 30

With arrival of merely 1,624 metric tonnes of parmal varieties of paddy in the markets on Sunday, the harvesting of crop is nearly complete. So far, 3.61 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of the crop has been procured by government agencies.

However, the arrival of basmati varieties has increased, as a total of 4,012 MT crop arrived in the market on Sunday. The increase in arrival of basmati variety is due to harvesting of late sown crops such as 1509 and 1618. A total of 3.67 LMT basmati grains have been procured by private buyers in the district.

The district agriculture officials stated that 7.29 LMT paddy crop, including basmati and parmal, had arrived in the markets. The harvesting is expected to be completed within next few days as nearly 93 per cent of the area has already been harvested.

The district mandi board officials stated that 100 per cent of the basmati crop and 84 per cent of the parmal crop has already been lifted from the markets. While the basmati varieties are procured by private traders, maximum of the parmal crop has been procured by government agencies. The private buyers’ share in purchase of parmal crop is merely 8,380 MT.

With the harvesting season ending, the sowing of wheat crop has also begun in certain pockets of the district. The district agriculture officials stated that farmers are being encouraged to use happy seeder and super seeder machines for sowing of wheat. These are cost effective and environment friendly as they do not require burning of crop residue, they said.

93% area harvested

• The harvesting is expected to be completed within next few days as nearly 93% of the area has already been harvested
• The district mandi board officials stated that 100 per cent of the basmati crop and 84 per cent of the parmal crop has already been lifted from the markets
• With the harvesting season ending, the sowing of wheat crop has also begun in certain pockets of the district