Mandis full: Wheat sowing set to be delayed as paddy harvesting in slo-mo
By Vishal Joshi and Karam Prakash
A visit to mandis in the Bathinda and adjoining districts of south Malwa shows a glut-like situation and only 15% has been lifted. The conditions are similar in Patiala with the farmers terming this year’s procurement fiasco as the worst ever.
“I haven’t seen a crisis like this ever before in my life. Wheat sowing has already started and I am waiting for my paddy to be procured. Procurement agency inspectors say that the moisture content in my produce is 18% against the permissible limit of 17%. I want to dry up the paddy but there is no space,” said 50-year-old Amrinder Singh of Jalal Khera village at Sanour grain market in Patiala.
Malkeet Singh of Alipur Jattan village in Patiala waited seven days to get his paddy procured at Balbhera grain market in the district. “One member of my family was constantly sitting in the grain market to guard the produce.”
Inderjeet Singh of Asin Majra village said while he is at the grain market, his 18-year-old son is busy trying to arrange di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser, which is used for basal application during wheat sowing.
Officials and arhtiyas maintain that though this time the quality of the produce was good, the procurement operations were hit as rice millers were reluctant to work.
A sexagenarian farmer Harjagjit Singh at a rural mandi of Baho Yatri in Bathinda on Friday said his hopes of selling his produce have been dashed.
Singh cultivates non-basmati on his 15-acre farmland. “My hopes were dashed as I have been forced to camp at the mandi since Monday and there is no word from the agencies when my stock would be purchased. I harvested only nine acres and have delayed harvest on the rest of the land due to slow procurement,” he said.
A similar view was aired by 73-year-old Jagsir Singh from Mian village who has been staying at the mandi at Teona village in Bathinda district for the last eight days.
“I reached the mandi last week with 1,300 bags of paddy. On arrival, the moisture content in my crop was assessed at 18%. Today, I was told that the moisture content was 20%. There is a complete mess,” he said.
As per Punjab mandi board data, a total of 2.90 lakh tonnes of paddy arrived in different mandis of Bathinda district till October 26 and various agencies purchased 1.68 lakh tonnes.
Official records reveal only 42,300 tonnes has been lifted from mandis of the south Malwa districts.
District mandi officer Gaurav Garg said that against the estimated requirement of 500 rice millers, nearly 100 have agreed to start operations.
According to the president of the Bathinda arhtiya association Satish Kumar Babbu, said: “Arhtiyas are helpless until the state authorities rope in rice millers to lift the stock.”
Bathinda chief agriculture officer Jagsir Singh said that less than 20% of the area has been harvested. Farmers are delaying harvesting due to a lack of space in mandis.
“Harvesting is going on at a very slow pace and we hope that things will improve soon,” he said.
Meanwhile, Patiala deputy commissioner Preeti Yadav, said that the procurement of the paddy was being ensured in all grain markets. She claimed that around 25,000 metric tonnes of wheat was being lifted every day, and it would be further accelerated.
Minister, DC visit mandis to review procurement ops
Punjab local bodies minister Ravjot Singh and deputy commissioner Komal Mittal visited mandis in the district in Sham Churasi and Dasuya areas to review the procurement operations. During the visit, the minister assured to arrange gunny bags shortly to accelerate the pace of lifting and meet the demand of arthiyas for requisite number of tarpaulins and crates. The DC, accompanied by MLA Karambir Singh Ghumman and SSP Surinder Lamba, visited Dasuya mandi and stated that efforts were being made to expedite the lifting of produce from grain markets.
This article has been republished from The Hindustan Times