100 LMT wheat in Punjab grain markets so far; daily arrivals witness a decline

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, April 30

As Punjab’s total wheat procurement crosses 100 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) today, with daily arrivals in mandis dropping to 5.14 LMT, there is a sense of worry among food procurement agencies over meeting the procurement target of 132 LMT.

The total wheat arrivals in the state have reached 104.28 LMT today, of which 95.96 LMT has been purchased by the government agencies and 5.91 LMT by private traders. However, the daily wheat arrivals in the mandis have started coming down. As against daily arrivals of over 11 LMT last week and over 8.57 LMT two days ago, the arrival today was 5.14 LMT.

Punjab Chief Secretary Anurag Verma held a review meeting for the ongoing procurement process. He said 75 per cent of the grains had arrived in the market and the government would meet its procurement target, but it seems many farmers are hoarding the wheat to be sold later when the price jumps. This is leading to the apprehension that the government may find it difficult to meet the target.

The wheat yield this year is higher by 467 kg per hectare, according to the data sourced by The Tribune from the Agriculture Department. The average yield this year is 5,177 kg per hectare as revealed by crop cutting experiments. The total wheat production this year is expected to be 182 LMT.

Sarabjit Singh, a farmer from Bazidri village in Nabha, told The Tribune that big landlords who had space to store the wheat were not selling the produce in mandis. “They are holding on to the stocks in hope of getting higher price from private traders later,” he said, adding that only small farmers, who have to repay loans or clear the dues of arhtiyas, were selling their entire produce to government agencies. In Ropar, a Markfed official requesting anonymity said many farmers were holding on to their grains. “Big private flour millers who export flour are giving them a higher price and they expect price to escalate further in another three months,” he added.

Even now, as against the MSP of Rs 2,275 per quintal, private traders in Ferozepur have bought wheat today at Rs 2,500 per quintal. Till yesterday, private traders were buying wheat at prices up to Rs 2400 per quintal.

Harbans Singh Rosha, a commission agent in Khanna, said though the arrivals were slowing down in Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib and Ludhiana, the procurement was now picking up pace in Moga and Jagraon.