low lifting of wheat leads to space crunch in mandis
The slow pace of lifting of procured wheat from grain markets in the district has started troubling arthiyas and farmers alike as they are finding it difficult to find space to unload fresh produce from the fields.
Though government procurement agencies and private buyers have purchased a total of 2,08,044 metric tonnes of wheat in the district, only around 17,533 MT of wheat has been lifted from grain markets. The Food and Civil Supplies Department has so far managed to make arrangements for only 8.5 per cent of the procured stock.
Around 1,90,511 MT of wheat is lying in the open and is at the risk of getting wet and subsequently discoloured in case it rains.
An arthiya at the Chogawan mandi said: “Dana mandis have a limited space. After procurement, wheat is packed into gunny bags. In case gunny bags of wheat are not shifted to godowns, these start piling up and the area for fresh produce decreases.”
He said they had been asking employees concerned to shift the produce as soon as possible so that they could have more space for fresh arrival.
District mandi officials stated that nearly 6 lakh metric tonnes of wheat is expected to arrive in grain markets in the district during the current season. They stated that if the purchased wheat was not lifted soon, it would lead to a serious problem of space shortage.
Meanwhile, with the arrival of 33,639 MT of crop on Sunday, a total of 2.16 lakh MT of wheat reached the markets. Mandi board officials stated that wheat procurement was going on smoothly.
