Punjab crosses last year’s wheat procurement figures

Punjab on Saturday crossed last year’s figure in wheat crop procurement even as the season is still underway. Though wheat arrival has slowed down now, authorities are expecting it to continue in the coming week too. Nearly 40% districts of the state have witnessed less procurement this season till date.

The record of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) shows that Punjab’s contribution to the central pool is the second highest in the last six years till date.

Till Saturday, Punjab’s procurement for the central pool had crossed the previous year mark of 127.26 lakh metric tonnes by 39,000 metric tonnes and touched 127.65 lakh metric tonnes, while around 53,000 metric tonnes had arrived in various Punjab mandis by evening which will be procured on Sunday.

Punjab has fixed a target of 130 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) wheat procurement this year, which is likely to be achieved in a few days. Till date, 128.24 LMT has already arrived in mandis, out of which 127.65 LMT was purchased by government agencies, and around 6,000 tonnes has been bought by private players while, 53,000 metric tonnes was lying unsold till Saturday evening.

Out of the 22 districts, nine have witnessed less procurement as compared to last year, while in 13 districts, the procurement was comparatively higher.

The districts which have recorded low procurement till date include Amritsar, Barnala, Bathinda, Faridkot, Fazilka, Mansa, Moga, Mukatsar, and Sangrur. In Sangrur, which is the highest contributor in the state, 11.45 lakh tonnes wheat was procured till date against the 12.24 lakh tonnes last season. After Sangrur, Mukatsar and Ludhiana are also big contributors where 9.32 lakh tonnes was procured against 9.69 lakh tonnes and 9.16 lakh tonnes were procured against .8.94 lakh tonnes last year, respectively.

This year, the weather was much more favorable throughout the wheat crop season and also it wasn’t bad during the harvest season too unlike the previous years when strong storms and heavy rains damaged the crop just before the harvest.

“If Punjab is able to achieve the set target of 130 LMT, then this year’s procurement would be the highest in the last six years, as per the data available on the website of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), which shows that Punjab’s wheat procurement was 106..56 LMT, 117.14 LMT, 127.06 LMT, 129.33 LMT, 127.26 LMT in 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, respectively,” said a senior officer in Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Office.

Vice-President of Punjab Mandi Board (PMB), Vijay Kalra, said, “Though procurement is still not over, arrival of wheat has slowed down a bit.. but we are expecting to reach our target.”

Around 73 per cent of the wheat has been lifted from Mandis till Saturday.

This year, harvesting began on April 10 and farmers having been receiving MSP worth Rs 1,975 per quintal directly into their accounts and not through their respective arhtiyas.