Farmers complain of tardy procurement of wheat

With wheat harvesting at its peak, reports of discontent among farmers have emerged from various parts of the state due to alleged delay in the procurement process by government agencies.

In Fazilka, there is no space to accommodate fresh arrivals at any of the 80 focal points.

Milakh Raj of Tahliwala Bodla village said he could not bring his produce due to space crunch at the purchase centre.

According to official sources, 2,51,495 metric tonne (MT) wheat has arrived at 80 rural purchase centres out of which only 68,754 MT (about 27 per cent) has been lifted so far.

Similarly, out of 4,08,077 MT wheat arrivals at the grain markets in Fazilka, Abohar and Jalalabad and rural purchase centres, only 1,35,610 MT (nearly 33 per cent) has been lifted till Tuesday evening.

Tardy lifting has also led to piling up of produce at mandis in Fatehgarh Sahib. “Till Wednesday, 1,55,477 MT wheat has arrived in the mandis here and 1,44,505 MT of that has been procured. However, only 50,873 MT out of that has been lifted so far,” said Dr Sona Thind Deputy Commissioner.

Wheat arrival has started picking up in Ludhiana mandis as well. The produce arrival is much more than the capacity of the mechanism put in place for the purpose. The number of wheat-laden trucks reaching mandis has been increasing steadily. The lifting is comparatively lean on the Jagraon side due to the shortage of labour and vehicles, officials said.

In Patiala, Deputy Commissioner Dr Preeti Yadav visited various grain markets to review the procurement process. Presiding over a daily review meeting, Yadav directed the District Food and Civil Supplies Controller, District Mandi Officer and the district managers of procurement agencies to expedite the lifting of wheat.