Procurement of wheat dips by 9% this year

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 31

With the wheat procurement by government agencies ending on Sunday, the district has registered a fall of 9 per cent in procurement this season as compared to last year. The district has recorded procurement of 6,23,788 tonnes at all 55 grain markets and nine temporary procurement centers. Last year, it had procured 6,82,905 tonnes.

While farmers still have a day to bring any crop kept at their homes to the markets, officials of the Mandi Board stated that they expected that only around 2,000 tonnes to arrive on Sunday.

The decline in procurement can be attributed to the loss in yield. Farmers stated that rough weather conditions during the entire wheat season resulted in the decreased yield.

While Agriculture Department officials, in their assessment of trial fields, had assessed loss to be at one quintal per acre, many farmers have reported a loss of up to 4 quintals per acre.

The district usually records average wheat yield of around 20 quintals per acre. However this season, many farmers had reported a yield of around 16-17 quintals.