Just over 25% of Punjab’s paddy procurement target arrives in grain markets so far | Chandigarh News

Chandigarh: As paddy season was marred by devastating floods and untimely rains, only 44.22 lakh metric tonnes of the crop has arrived so far in the grain markets, which is 25.71% of the 172 LMT targeted to be procured this season.The current Kharif Marketing Season is scheduled to end by Nov 30. The procurement began on Sept 16, having been advanced from the usual Oct 1 start date.As per the data compiled by the food and civil supplies department, 42,44,872.69 MT paddy has been procured so far, and the total arrivals stood at 44,22,900.99 MT.On Saturday, 5,57,502 MT of paddy arrived in the grain markets across the state. The department claimed that the entire stock of paddy procured over the last 72 hours was lifted.This year, the target of 172 LMT paddy procurement was given to Punjab, but arrangements have been made to obtain nearly 190 LMT.The procurement season was advanced by a fortnight to rule out excessive moisture content, but the plan was hampered by floods and heavy rains. These weather events have not only reduced the expected yield in certain areas but have also caused grain discolouration and high moisture content, forcing the state govt to seek relaxation in the Fair Average Quality (FAQ) specifications for procurement from the Centre.Kulwant Singh, a farmer from Fatehgarh Sahib, said most farmers had to hold back harvesting due to untimely rains. “While the paddy crop was destroyed in the border districts, in our area, the crop was hit by the dwarf virus and there was widespread discolouration of grains,” he said.MSID:: 124670643 413 |