Status quo in Yamunanagar mandis

Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, April 18

In spite of a two-day ban on wheat procurement across the state, several grain markets in the district are still facing space crunch.

Of the 1.85 lakh MT of wheat procured in 13 grain markets and purchase centres of the district, only 93,856 MT (50.63 per cent) was lifted till Saturday.

Farmers have criticised the state government for having banned wheat buying on the weekend.

Farmer leader Satpal Kaushik said the two-day ban on wheat procurement showed that the state government had failed to make arrangements for smooth procurement.

“The agriculture sector is reeling under acute labour crunch. Therefore, it is impossible for farmers to load wheat in tractor-trolleys from their fields and then unload it in their houses,” he said.

Kaushik further said that the government should consult farmers and seek their suggestions before framing the procurement policy.

Another farmer Joginder Singh of Devdhar village said: “These days, it is difficult to store harvested crop at home. The harvesting machine puts the grains directly into a tractor-trolley. From the field, farmers take the produce to grain market directly instead of unloading it in their stores. Since there is glut in the mandis, where do we store the produce.”