Tardy wheat procurement irks farmers in Muktsar district

A view of the grain market in Muktsar town. Only 30 per cent of the produce has been procured in the last two weeks. The shortage of gunny bags is said to be the main reason behind the delay. Tribune photo

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, April 15

Two weeks have passed since the wheat procurement season officially began on April 1, but only 30 per cent of the produce that has arrived in the grain markets in Muktsar district has been purchased by the government agencies so far.

Shortage of gunny bags is said to be the main reason behind delay in wheat procurement. The figures procured from the district administration revealed that around 51,266 tonnes of wheat has arrived in Muktsar markets so far and only 15,370 tonnes of that has been purchased by the government agencies. Around 35,896 tonnes of the produce was still lying in mandis.

Only 2,645 tonnes of wheat has been lifted till date. Not even a single grain has been lifted from the grain markets of Muktsar and Bariwala. As of now, 2,445 tonnes of wheat has been lifted from Gidderbaha market. The figure is 200 tonnes in case of Malout.

Gurcharan Singh, secretary of the Muktsar Market Committee, said, “Wheat is arriving in the market, but government agencies are facing shortage of gunny bags. Because of that, the procurement and the purchase of wheat could not gain momentum so far. The moisture content is also above the permissible limit in the leftover grain.”

Farmers, however, say, “The procurement season has just started and the situation has already turned bad. One can well imaging the situation in the coming days.”

Harpal Singh, a farmer sitting in the Muktsar grain market, said, “Every year, the government makes tall claims of having made adequate arrangements for lifting wheat, but one realises that there is hardly any change in the situation when the procurement actually begins.”

Courtesy: The Tribune