Procurement: Rs 918 cr disbursed to farmers

Amritsar, May 4

A sum of Rs 918.41 crore has been disbursed to farmers in the district for procuring their wheat crop. This was stated by Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori during a meeting held to review the progress of procurement and lifting of the crop here on Saturday.

The Deputy Commissioner said over 5.17 lakh metric tonnes (MT) wheat crop has arrived in the grain markets of the district so far. They expect a total arrival of 7.5 lakh MT, which means that the harvesting season would continue for some more days, he said.

The DC said the administration would ensure that the farmers face no problem at the grain markets and procurement of the crop is done soon.

He said the government procurement agency, Punjab State Warehouse Corporation, has so far disbursed Rs 148.76 crore for procuring 62,962 MT wheat followed by Pungrain which has disbursed Rs 378.52 crore for 1.14 lakh MT, Markfed Rs 241.58 crore for 1.04 lakh MT, Punsup Rs 208.55 crore for 90,156 MT and Food Corporation of India Rs 43 crore for 19,862 MT.

He said the administration is ensuring that farmers are made the payment of their crop within 48 hours of the procurement.