Furore over delay in paddy procurement

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 1

The Centre’s decision to delay paddy procurement in Punjab by 10 days has met with stiff resistance from the farmers, state government and political parties in the state.

This is because paddy in many districts of the state has already matured and is ready to be harvested. In four districts, farmers have already started bringing paddy to mandis. To date, 13,000 metric tonnes of paddy has arrived in the mandis. The early transplanted and the early maturing paddy varieties are ready for harvest or have already been harvested.

Late last evening, the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution decided to postpone the procurement from Punjab and Haryana till October 11, considering the high moisture content in the crop because of the recent spell of heavy rainfall in the region. Paddy procurement was scheduled to begin in Punjab today.

The Centre’s decision has led to a furore in the poll-bound agrarian state. Officials in the state Agriculture and Food and Supplies Departments said the paddy harvested till date was more than 1 lakh metric tonnes — almost similar to what was harvested in the corresponding period last year (1.16 lakh MT).

“Since the procurement has not yet started, farmers of Amritsar, Tarn Taran, some parts of Patiala and Sangrur have harvested their crops and are waiting to bring it to mandis. If it rains any day till October 11, their entire crop will be damaged and they will suffer huge losses,” said a senior officer in the Agriculture Department. Mohinder Kishan Chand Arora, a commission agent in Rajpura, said almost 5,200 MT of paddy had arrived in the mandi till date. “Though some of the crop had high moisture content, we are drying it and helping farmers fill the crop in bags till the procurement starts. The farmers are not ready to leave mandis till their crop is bought,” he added. Dr JS Mahal, Director Extension Services, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, said early maturing paddy variety had to be harvested now, so that the grain was not damaged.

Meanwhile, with the postponement of the procurement date, heaps of paddy are piling up in the grain markets of Fatehgarh Sahib, causing anxiety among farmers. The harassed farmers raised slogans against the Modi Government at the Sirhind grain market today. MLA Kuljit Singh Nagra interacted with farmers and told them the state government was concerned about their problem.

1 Lakh MT harvested

Officials in the state Agriculture and Food and Supplies Departments said the paddy harvested till date was more than 1 lakh MT, almost similar to what was harvested in the corresponding period last year.

Furore over delay in paddy procurement
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