Specialty food ingredient makers prefer wheat from UP, Rajasthan

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 3

Notwithstanding high wheat production in Punjab, specialty food ingredient manufacturers in the region are dependent on Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan for high-quality wheat. According to manufacturers, the presence of heavy metal in the grain is acting as a stumbling block for them to procure it from the state.

Pathankot-based Pioneer Industries Ltd — a leading producer of vital wheat gluten — procures wheat either from Rajasthan or Uttar Pradesh. The company claims it is not only better in quality but also economical.

“We manufacture wheat gluten for the Indian market and supply it to infant feed manufacturers. As they are very quality conscious, we have to be careful in selecting the wheat. We prefer wheat from other states because they are better in quality as compared to Punjab’s which has a presence of heavy metal and pesticides,” said Jagat Aggarwal, Managing Director, Pioneer Industries.

Gluten is a protein naturally found in some grains, including wheat, barley and rye. It acts like a binder, holding food together and adding a “stretchy” quality, just like a pizza maker tossing and stretching out a ball of dough. Without gluten, the dough would rip easily.

“Our annual requirement is around 75,000 tonnes of wheat but it can be doubled if there is enough availability of high-quality wheat here,” Aggarwal said. The company produces around 4,500 tonnes of gluten while the demand is for 10,000 tonnes annually.

As many as 35 lakh hectares was under wheat cultivation in Punjab during the rabi season for 2020-21 and the expected production was 182 lakh metric tonnes. The government procurement agencies purchased marketable surplus of 127 lakh MT of wheat.

Coming to the rescue of farmers and industry, Mohali-based Agnext Technologies has come out with an instant quality and traceability solution for the commodities. “We have developed a technology which can instantly check the ingredients of wheat and also we can provide traceability solution,” said Taranjeet Singh, founder, Agnext Technologies.

To resolve the issue, the manufacturers have suggested that the government should promote contract farming for organic wheat of better quality having high protein content.

Besides gluten makers, starch and poultry feed manufacturers also procure superior quality maize in bulk from Uttar Pradesh and other states. According to the industry, maize production in Punjab is far less than demand mainly because of farmers’ over-dependence on lucrative crops like paddy. The annual industrial demand of maize is around 3-4 million tonnes while Punjab produces less than 1 million tonne.

Farmers of Punjab are, however, reluctant to grow maize because of price volatility as the government agencies don’t procure maize like wheat and paddy. 

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