Paddy arrival picks up pace, but slow lifting a cause for concern in Karnal

With the paddy harvest reaching its peak, arrivals in Karnal’s grain markets have picked up pace — but slow lifting of procured stock has emerged as a major concern for farmers, commission agents (arhtiyas), rice millers and procurement agencies.

According to official data, around 43.68% of the procured paddy is yet to be lifted from the district’s mandis. Of the 7,06,683 metric tonnes (MT) of paddy that arrived at various procurement centres till October 15, only 3,98,049 MT has been transported to mills, while 3,08,634 MT remains piled up in markets.

The delay in lifting has led to congestion in several mandis, forcing some procurement centres to temporarily halt new arrivals due to space constraints.

On Wednesday, rice millers observed a one-day shutdown of procurement operations at the Karnal grain market to highlight the problems caused by the delay.

Farmers, meanwhile, expressed frustration over the long waits outside mandis with tractor-trailers loaded with paddy.

“I had to wait in a long queue for my turn to enter the Karnal grain market. It happened due to poor lifting and mismanagement inside,” said Davinder Singh, a farmer.

Another farmer, Vikram, said, “The lifting process is very slow, and we are not getting enough space to unload our crop. We demand that the authorities expedite lifting immediately.”

Echoing their concerns, Rajnish Chaudhary, president of the Karnal Arhtiyas Association, said: “Our mandis are overflowing. Farmers have no space to unload their produce, and every day of delay means more worry for purchasers. We urge procurement agencies to speed up the lifting process.”

Saurabh Gupta, president of the Karnal Rice Millers and Dealers Association, said they had suspended procurement for a day to allow space clearance.

“We took a one-day break from procurement so that lifting could be expedited, but no major relief has been seen yet. Authorities must ensure sufficient vehicles for transportation from grain markets,” he added.

Deputy Commissioner Uttam Singh said procurement agencies and transporters had been instructed to expedite the lifting process to ease the congestion.