Uttar Pradesh: Government running out of gunny bags, can’t buy wheat

Shalabh & Abhishek Awasthi | TNN | Updated: Apr 18, 2020, 14:30 IST

Picture used for representational purpose only

GREATER NOIDA: Shortage of gunny bags has disrupted the government’s wheat procurement plan that was supposed to take off in Gautam Budh Nagar district from April 15. Three days after the plan was announced, the government has been able to procure only 40 quintals of wheat.
Each having a capacity of about 100 kg and displaying procurement dates and other details about the crop prominently, gunny sacks are important for audits and to determine the age of unused stock. With no supply of these sacks, farmers are leaving their crops in open spaces under tarpaulin sheets.
“They are now getting in touch with private buyers as the government’s buying process is taking time. Government officials have told us that bardana (gunny sacks) are not available at the moment and that is making things difficult,” said Mukesh Bhati, the president of Tirthali primary agricultural society that has more than 1,400 farmers as members.

Soon after the second phase of lockdown was announced on April 14, the state government announced that 5.5 million ton of wheat would be bought from farmers.
The buying price for 1 kg was fixed at Rs 19.25 and directions were issued to initiate the procurement process in a “contact-less” manner from April 15. Subsequently, the district administration set up 28 purchase centres, of which 12 are in Jewar tehsil, known as the wheat bowl of the district. The administration also prepared a database of about 58,000 farmers who had sowed wheat in the Rabi season.
The farmers were supposed to get a specific time slot and were expected to drop their produce at the nearest centre.
“About 40% farmers have already harvested the crops,” said Amarnath Mishra, the deputy director, district agriculture department. The buying process is expected to get back on track once gunny sacks are available. “The godown of food and civil supplies department in Khurja, Bulandshahr, had given us some old gunny sacks on April 15. We have asked them to send new sacks. The process would be will get streamlined from Saturday,” Mishra added.
The regional marketing officer, Meerut division, Dinesh Mishra, said that a co-operative has been assigned with the task of providing the sacks from Khurja. “It is up to the farmers to fulfil the registration process. Some did not turn up despite being given a slot,” he added.
The manager, Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh Cooperative Federation Limited, Suman Chandok, said the procurement process started from Friday evening. “We procured more than 40 quintals on Friday. Due to the lockdown, everyone is facing difficulties, including our staff members. Also, the website that generates token after registrations was overburdened throughout the day. Things will get better in a day or two,” she said.
Meanwhile, forecast of rain over the weekend has made farmers anxious. “Earlier, farmers had suffered losses due to hailstorm. Rain at this time can damage the cops left in the field,” Bhati said.