Paddy arrivals sluggish, moisture more than normal
The pace of paddy arrivals in mandis and procurement centres has been sluggish, which was on expected lines as farmers were forced to delay harvesting due to incessant rains in the last week of September. In the first three days of the procurement season, 17,890 tonne of paddy had arrived, most of it in the mandis of Khanna, Patiala, Sangrur and Amritsar. The bigger worry is the moisture content, which is as high as 25% against the acceptable 17%.
The state agencies and the FCI have not started purchasing the crop yet as they are waiting for the moisture level to come down.
A total of 2,855 tonne paddy arrived in grain markets of the Doaba region comprising four districts — Jalandhar, Nawanshahr, Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur — of which mere 1,185 tonne of the crop was purchased.
Experts say the moisture level in the crop in the fields will recede at a very slow pace because of the dew at night.
“So, it is better to dry the crop before taking it to the mandis,” said an official in the agriculture department. The experts also feel that due to high moisture content, there are chances of crop getting discoloured.
The state government has demanded from the Centre and the FCI to relax moisture and discolouration norms.
The state government opened procurement from October 1 and 190-200-lakh tonne of grain is expected to be procured this season.
The state government has sought a cash credit limit of ₹40,300 crore for the procurement.
The Centre has fixed the MSP for grade A at ₹1,770 per quintal and ₹1,750 per quintal for the common variety of paddy.