Haryana: Wheat arrivals to stay sluggish for few days

Tribune News Service

Nitish Sharma

Ambala, April 9

With wheat crop maturing, the farmers have started reaching at the grain markets of Ambala and Kurukshetra with their produce. However, the arrivals are expected to remain sluggish for the next few days.

Prolonged winter delayed harvesting

At present, manual harvesting has started and the combine machines are yet to reach agricultural fields. Harvesting has got delayed this year due to prolonged winter and lower temperature. As per reports, the crop is looking good and harvesting is expected to gather pace after April 14. Deputy director, Agriculture, Ambala

Officials in the Agriculture Department and the Agricultural Marketing Board believe the season will be in full swing only after April 14.

Bhupinder Singh, a farmer from Langar Chhanni village who reached the Ambala Cantonment grain market, said, “The weather has delayed the harvesting. The yield is looking decent and I have sold my produce of two acres to a government agency.”

Besides the government agencies, the private traders are also buying the stock in the grain markets.

Secretary of Shahabad grain market committee Krishan Kumar Malik said, “Over 300 tonne of wheat stock has arrived so far at the grain market, of which 157 tonne has been procured. We are expecting higher arrivals this year.”

As per the data, over 2,076 tonne of wheat has arrived at various grain markets of the Ambala district till Tuesday evening, of which 850 tonne has been procured, while the arrivals in Kurukshetra district were over 1,266 tonne, of which 316 tonne has been procured by the government agencies.

Dr Jasvinder Saini, Deputy Director, Agriculture, Ambala, said, “At present, manual harvesting has started and the combine machines are yet to enter the agricultural fields. The harvesting has got delayed this year due to prolonged winter and lower temperature. As per the report from the field, the crop is looking good and the harvesting is expected to gather pace after April 14.”

District marketing enforcement officer for Ambala and Kurukshetra Rajiv Chaudhary said, “The farmers have started reaching the grain markets form Monday but the arrivals have been sluggish so far and it will gather pace after April 14. The government procurement agencies have started procurement. The quality of the arrived stocks has been good but the moisture content is on the higher side. The farmers are advised to bring their produce after drying and cleaning so that they don’t have to wait to sell their produce. All arrangements are in place to ensure a smooth procurement season.”

273 MT procured in 2 days

Karnal: Wheat has started arriving in the grain markets of Karnal district. In the past two days, 273 MT of wheat has been purchased by HAFED. The procurement agencies, which have geared up for the procurement season, are expecting a good arrival in a couple of days at different grain markets.

“Wheat started arriving in the grain markets of the district. We are expecting a good arrival this week,” said Anil Kalra, District Food and Supplies Controller. He said they have made all preparations for the procurement.

As per the data, the district has so far received 285 MT of wheat, of which 273 MT had been procured. However, the arrival is very thin as compared to last year. Till April 9, various grain markets of the district have received an arrival of 62,543 MT.

Experts said due to low temperature, which prevailed during the maturity of the crop, the wheat harvesting got delayed and after Baisakhi, the harvesting will be smooth and by April 20 it will get momentum.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Akhil Pilani is monitoring the

procurement process at all 23 purchase centres and

grain markets.

“The secretaries of the Haryana Agricultural Marketing Board have been directed to ensure all facilities for farmers. Procurement agencies have been instructed to ensure smooth procurement and speedy lifting,” he said.

Uttam Singh, Deputy Commissioner, said the arrival was at an initial stage and it would gather pace in coming days, for which they were fully

prepared.

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