No farmer to suffer due to crop damage: Punjab Govt

After thousands of tonnes of wheat grain was exposed to rain in the past 24 hours in grain markets across Punjab due to inadequate measures for proper storage and lifting of wheat, Punjab Government on Thursday assured farmers that they (farmers) will not have to suffer losses due to the damage.

Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said the government is standing firmly by the side of farmers and none would be left to suffer at the hands of vagaries of nature.

A thunderstorm on Wednesday, followed by rain, had left the wheat grain soaked at most grain markets.

Reiterating government's promise of hassle-free procurement, the minister said that government is committed to lift the last grain in the market.

"All the stakeholders involved - be it the farmers, the labourers or the arthiyas, may rest assured that government will not leave them in the lurch. The Mandi Board has been directed to take concrete steps to upgrade the arrangements in mandis and ensure safety of food grains from the rain," Ashu said.

Punjab has seen 118 lakh tonnes of wheat grain being procured so far. The procurement process started on April 1. In the same period last year, 112 lakh tonnes of wheat had been procured. Similarly, 83 lakh tonnes of wheat grains have already been lifted from grain markets.

The minister said Punjab Mandi Board has been directed to take concrete steps to upgrade the arrangements in mandis and ensure safety of food grains from the rain.

“The managing directors of all procurement agencies have been asked to personally visit the markets in rain-affected districts and hold detailed meetings with the administration and other stakeholders to resolve issues, if any,” said Ashu.

In compliance to the directions, the state Food and Civil Supplies Department director Anindita Mitra visited Hoshiarpur, Markfed managing director Rahul Tewari visited Tarn Taarn, PUNSUP managing director Amarpal Singh visited Faridkot and Muktsar, Punjab Agro managing director Vikas Garg visited Jalandhar and Punjab Warehousing Corporation managing director HS Brar has visited Gurdaspur.

OVER 81.49 LAKH MT WHEAT PROCURED IN HARYANA

More than 81.49 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of wheat has been procured by the state agencies in Haryana so far during the ongoing procurement season.

Wheat procurement in Haryana has already surpassed last year’s procurement of 74.25 lakh MT. While state agencies have procured over 81.49 lakh metric tonnes, the traders have procured 485 metric tonnes this year, said a spokesman of Haryana Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department. 

The spokesman said that district Sirsa is leading in wheat arrival where over 10.84 lakh MT of the crop had been procured followed by district Karnal, which recorded more than 8.77 lakh MT wheat arrival.