Sukhmeet Bhasin
Bathinda, May 5
The dip in wheat arrival and a sharp fall in the purchase of foodgrain by procurement agencies are expected to cause around Rs 7,200 crore loss this season.
On May 5, the total wheat arrival was 100.72 LMT as compared to 133.28 LMT last year. The shortfall of 32.56 LMT (32,56,000 quintal) this year has been due the loss in wheat yield resulting from unprecedented high temperature. The development has not only created a dent in farmers’ income, but is also set to cause a substantial revenue loss to the Punjab Mandi Board, labourers and transporters as well.
Mansa District Mandi Officer Rajnish Goel said: “A quintal of wheat gives Rs 2,015 to a farmer, Rs 120.9 to the Punjab Mandi Board, Rs 45.83 to an arhtiya, Rs 24.58 to a labourer and Rs 27.81 to a transporter for ferrying it to a storage facility.”
Taking the shortfall of 32.56 LMT into account, farmers are staring at an estimated loss of Rs 6,560 crore, the Punjab Mandi Board Rs 394 crore in the form of market committee fee and rural development fund (RDF), arhtiyas Rs 149 crore, transporters Rs 90.5 crore and labourers Rs 80 crore this season.
The state government charges 3 per cent each as rural RDF and mandi fee on sale of the produce to the Food Corporation of India (FCI). This is a huge financial loss to the state, which is already reeling from a huge financial crisis.
There are also reports some big farmers have stored wheat, expecting a surge in prices later as the production this season is less, whereas the demand is more, especially in the global market due the Russia-Ukraine war. Punjab has already set up a committee to study the actual yield loss, even as there is a growing demand to compensate farmers for losses.
Rs 7K cr loss feared due to low wheat arrival in Punjab
{$excerpt:n}
