Glut in grain markets due to slow lifting of wheat
KARNAL: The slow lifting of wheat from grain markets has created a glut in grain markets of the region as harvesting is at its peak at this time and arrival of wheat has increased manifold in the past few days.
Although the procurement process is on, it is not in sync with the supply of the crop and commission agents are facing space shortage due to slow lifting of procured wheat by agencies.
PROBLEM MAY RISE
Farmers and commission agents said the problem may increase further as untimely rainfall has also affected harvesting and almost entire crop is matured for harvesting.
“Harvesting is at its peak and arrival of wheat in mandis is increasing day by day, but the lifting is very slow, creating a problem of space in the grain market,” a commission agent at Indri Grain Market of Karnal said.
“If the lifting remains slow, there will be no space in the next two-three days as the average per acre production of wheat is also two-three quintals more than the last year,” said Naresh Kumar, a commission agent at Ladwa grain market of Kurukshetra.
Officials in the state agriculture department said wheat production in the state was likely to remain higher than last year and Haryana government has set a target of procuring over 75 lakh tonnes in the state.
PRESENT STATE
As of now, five government procuring agencies and traders have purchased over 50.34 lakh metric tonnes of wheat at minimum support price (MSP) of ₹1,735 per quintal.
Karnal is the leading district in wheat arrival with over 5.47 lakh metric tonnes, followed by Jind with 5.22 lakh metric tonnes and Kaithal with 3. 73 lakh metric tonnes.
Moreover, in the past few days, per day average arrival of wheat in state mandis has increased to over 7 lakh metric tonnes.
On Wednesday, minister of state for food and supplies Karan Dev Kamboj paid a visit to several grain markets in Kurukshetra district and admitted that there were some problems related to lifting of wheat but he said efforts are being made to deal with the problem. However, there is a huge stock of procured wheat lying in the grain market of Indri, represented by Kamboj.
‘MORE RAIN COMING’
Meanwhile, farmers are running from pillar to post as the meteorological department has predicted more rain in the next 24 hours.
“Rainfall and strong winds have already flattened the crop, especially the early varieties, and we cannot delay harvesting further,” a Karnal farmer, Sandeep Tyagi said.
Also, farmers said the rain has increased input cost as the flattened crop cannot be harvested manually and combine harvesters are the only option for them.
Moreover, agriculture experts are predicting a bumper crop as Dr GP Singh, director, Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR) Karnal, had predicted the total wheat production in the country to touch 100 million tonnes, whereas in Haryana, there is a possibility that the wheat production may cross 152 lakh tonnes of 2011-12, which was a record production in Haryana.