On Day 1, no arrival of wheat in Doaba mandis

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 1

Even as procurement of wheat started across Punjab on Friday, none of the 14 main market committees of Doaba region received any grain on Day 1. The mandi officers reported nil arrival in Adampur, Bhogpur, Bilga, Goraya, Jalandhar Cantt, Jalandhar City, Mehatpur, Phillaur, Banga, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur, Garhshankar, Bholath and Phagwara mandis.

District Mandi Officer Mukesh Kailey said: “We are expecting the wheat grain to arrive after April 8 or 9. Proper procurement may start from April 10 onwards. Since the wheat has not dried properly and the farmers want to take at least another week to harvest it, the arrival may be a little slow. On our part, we have made all the provisions in all the mandis of Jalandhar so that the farmers may not face any issues”.

Even as it was being expected that wheat may start arriving in mandis early due to higher temperature this time, Agriculture Officer Surinder Singh said: “Some blocks may arrive a little early but we are not expecting procurement to pick up before Baisakhi. On our part, we have been advising the farmers to continue to water the fields as per need so that the grain may not shrivel owing to dry weather.”

The agriculture officers are expecting an almost the same amount of arrival of wheat this year as compared to the last rabi season. “We had 8.84 lakh metric tonnes of wheat getting procured last time. This time, too, our estimates stand at 8.82 lakh metric tonnes. The area under wheat remains almost the same at 1.73 lakh hectares like the last rabi season,” he said. Almost all procurement agencies, including FCI and Pungrain, procure wheat from Jalandhar.

District Agriculture Department Officer Naresh Gulati said: “Though the temperature has been on a higher side this time towards the end of season, a continuous advisory to the farmers to water their fields intermittently has helped them ensure proper maturing of the crop. We just hope that the dry weather remains prevalent till procurement. Winds or rain at this time will not be good for proper harvesting.”

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