Wheat arrival crosses last year’s figure but only 55% lifted so far
Chandigarh: Wheat arrival in the grain markets of the state crossed 105.26 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) on Friday, surpassing last year’s figure of total arrival of 102.7
LMT wheat, even as 55% (58.26 LMT) of it was yet to be lifted
On Friday, 4.5 LMT wheat arrived and it is expected that the total procurement will be at least 20 LMT more than the previous season. So far, Rs 18,366 crore has been released as payment to 5,72,822 farmers as minimum support price (MSP). The state government has notified 2,766 mandis in the state, of which 906 are temporary. Food and civil supplies minister Lal Chand Kataruchak said more than
100 LMT has already been purchased, thereby beating the total purchase of 96.45 LMT by the procurement agencies during the entire Rabi season last year. He said it is being ensured that payments are released to farmers within 48 hours of the purchase of their crop.
To ensure complete transparency in the procurement of wheat, a vehicle tracking system (VTS) has been implemented in the state during this wheat procurement season. The number of GPS-fitted vehicles has increased to more than 30,000 as on date and more than 202,250 online gate passes have been issued through the VTS, till now.
This time, the procured wheat is being directly moved to the recipient states by the Centre by running special trains, instead of shifting the wheat to local godowns. Some commission agents in Malwa had complained of a glut-like situation as there was limited space for new arrivals due to the slow pace of lifting.
