Wheat harvesting at peak, arrivals gather pace at Ambala grain markets

With harvesting at its peak, the wheat arrivals have gathered pace at the grain markets of Ambala. As per the agriculture department, over 45 per cent harvesting is completed.

“The harvesting is at its peak and over 45 per cent harvesting has been completed in the district. If the weather remains favourable, the harvesting is expected to be completed by April 25,” Deputy Director Agriculture Dr Jasvinder Singh Saini said.

However, the technical glitches in the procurement portal continue to be a cause of inconvenience for the farmers and the officials at the grain markets.

As per the information, over 1.13 lakh MT wheat has been procured by the government agencies as on April 14, of which around 35,140 quintal (31 per cent) stock was lifted.

A farmer from Sonda village, Gurcharan Singh, who reached Ambala Cantonment Grain Market, said “There was some issue in the server and it took me more than half an hour to complete the formalities. The portals are not functioning properly. The government should test its facilities and capacity before implementing new guidelines.”

Neeraj Bhardwaj, secretary of Ambala Cantonment Grain Market, said “With the weather conditions improved, the arrivals have started turning heavy. There were some technical issues in the procurement portal but for the convenience of the farmers, manual entries were done and biometric authentication was also done later.”

As per the officials, nearly 50 per cent of the expected arrivals have reached the grain markets of Ambala already.

“The arrivals and lifting are better than previous year. There had been some issues related to server of the procurement portal following which the government has given relaxations regarding the procurement and transportation. However, the system is functioning properly now. While nearly 50 per cent stocks have already arrived, we are expecting the remaining produce to reach grain markets within a week. The entire focus is now on lifting and all efforts are being made to ensure smooth procurement,” District Food and Supplies Controller Nishant Rathi, said.

Zonal Marketing Enforcement Officer Ram Mehar Jaglan, said “Farmers have been urged to bring their produce as per the norms so that they don’t have to wait to sell their produce. We have been visiting the grain markets to ensure all the guidelines are complied with.”

Meanwhile, Ambala MP Varun Chaudhry, who has been visiting the grain markets of Ambala, said “It has been observed that the portal related to the procurement is not functional properly and there are complaints related to verification of MFMB portal too, due to which the farmers have been facing inconvenience. The lifting has been slow due to which the farmers are not getting the payment for their produce in time.”

“The officials claim that the manual entries are being done, but it is not helping the farmers because they are asked to come back again in person to complete the formalities. They are being harassed for no reasons. All these issues can be corrected but the government seems to be not interested,” the MP said.