PRODUCE NOT BEING GRADED SCIENTIFICALLY, SAYS KHEMKA

CHANDIGARH: Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who is the administrative secretary in-charge of Nuh district, has recommended that the quality of agricultural produce arriving in mandis for procurement should be graded in a scientific manner.

The IAS officer, who recently inspected Kharif procurement operations in Nuh district, said the focus should be on qualitybased trading on national agriculture market portal (e-NAM) to ensure greater number of buyers and best value for the farmers’ produce.

Khemka, in his inspection report, said during his visit to mandis of Nuh, Ferozepur Jhirka and Tauru on October 1, he came to know that some bogus registration for Bajra on ‘Meri Fasal, Mera Byora’ portal were found during ground verification. The IAS officer said bajra produce was traded between Rs 1,250-1,300. However, one lot was sold at Rs 1,800 and another at Rs 900. “The large difference was explained due to differences in quality. But the quality is being judged by eye estimation,” the officer wrote.

The officer said under the Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act, 1937 the national standards for Bajra are notified, considering quality factors such as moisture, foreign matter, other food grains, admixture of different varieties, damaged grains, immature grains, grains infested with weevil (an insect which damages grains) and shrivelled grains.

Bajra is graded into four types taking into account the maximum level of tolerance for each of the factors and grading is done using MAAT machines.