Gunny bag shortage hampers wheat procurement in Punjab
CHANDIGARH : The shortage of gunny bags, locally called bardana, continues to hamper purchase and lifting of wheat in the grain markets across Punjab even as it has been two weeks since the procurement of the crop started in the state.
Heaps of grains lying in the open were drenched by spells of rain in the last couple of days in most of the districts, adding to the worries of the farmers who will find it difficult to get a good price for their produce with a high level of moisture and that too on time.
In Bathinda district, 4.32 lakh metric tonne wheat was procured and 2.14 lakh MT lifted of the 4.8 lakh MT arrival in the grain markets till Friday.
With farmers complaining of a tardy wheat purchase in mandis, state finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, who was in Bathinda on Friday, acknowledged the problem, saying the grain markets will have enough supplies of jute bags in a week’s time. “Coordinated efforts are being made to streamline the availability of packaging material. Nearly 60% of the arrival has been purchased,” he told mediapersons. In Mansa district, 3.61 lakh MT wheat was purchased and 2 lakh MT lifted against the arrival of 4.2 lakh MT.
In Amritsar district, 90,00 lakh MT wheat has been procured and only 25% of it was lifted against the total arrival of 1 lakh MT grain.
Amandeep Chhina, president of the arhtiya association of the Bhagwanwala grain market, the largest in the district, said, “We are still facing problems due to shortage of gunny bags. Today, we had a meeting with the deputy commissioner on the issue. He has assured to resolve the matter in a day or two.” The situation is nearly similar elsewhere in the Majha region that comprises Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts besides Amritsar.
Kanwaljit Singh of Bathinda’s Dialpura Mirza village said he has been waiting at the village purchase centre for the last six days. “Officials and arthiyas say there is a poor supply of gunny bags,” he complained.
Bathinda district food and supplies controller Jaspreet Singh Kahlon said heavy and an early arrival of wheat are the main reasons behind the slow purchase.
In the grain markets of Sangrur district , farmers alleged harassment at the hands of the procurement agencies even as the administration claimed that 7.87 lakh MT of the 8.19 lakh MT wheat that arrived in mandis was purchased. District food and supplies controller TS Chopra denied shortage of gunny bags.
In Patiala district, 6.99 lakh MT wheat has arrived in the grain markets, of which, 6.77 lakh MT (90%) was procured. District mandi officer Ajaypal Singh said the shortage of gunny bags was overcome due to low arrival of wheat during inclement weather conditions.
In Jalandhar district, of the 3.2 lakh MT crop that has arrived in the grain markets, 3.19 lakh MT was purchased. The district administration in Kapurthala said nearly 60% of the total arrival of 2.22 lakh MT was purchased. In Ludhiana district, 6.19 lakh MT wheat was procured and 2.98 lakh MT lifted of a total arrival of 6.34 lakh MT.