Over 6L tonnes of wheat arrives in markets so far

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 22

With merely 1,450 tonnes of wheat arriving at grain markets in the district on Friday, almost 89 per cent of wheat as compared to the previous season has been procured so far. Fiftysix grain markets and nine temporary procurement centres in the district have procured a total of 6,07,692 tonnes of wheat so far.

Of the total wheat procured, only around 3,689 tonnes has been purchased by private buyers and the remaining procured by government procurement agencies. However, 1,00,757 tonnes of wheat procured by different agencies is yet to be lifted from grain markets.

In the previous wheat procurement season, the district had recorded a total procurement of 6,82,905 tonnes. While the wheat harvesting in fields is complete, the district is expected to fall short of the target mainly due to loss of wheat yield.

Farmers in the district have reported a loss in yield due to adverse weather conditions during the season. The Agriculture Department on the basis of its field trials have assessed the yield loss to be around 1 quintal per acre, farmers in certain pockets have reported a loss of up to four quintals per acre.

An official of the district Mandi Board said the arrival of wheat in mandis had slowed down and only those farmers who had stored wheat at their homes are bringing it now. “The harvesting is over and we expect that only around 5,000 tonnes at the maximum would arrive in markets in the coming days,” said the official.