Slow lifting affects wheat procurement
FEROZEPUR: Inclement weather and slow lifting of procured wheat from various grain markets of Ferozepur and Fazilka districts is giving anxious moments to farmers, commission agents and officials busy with procurement.
Till Saturday, around 5.5lakh MT of wheat has been procured in Ferozepur district. A majority of commission agents and farmers expressed satisfaction over the timely payment for the procured wheat. But the dismal arrangements to transport wheat from the mandis have compounded their problems.
Poor transportation facilities are disturbing them while the inclement weather for the past three days has also affected them, rues Didar Singh, district president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union.
He says the authorities should ensure transportation as due to non-lifting of wheat, there is a lack of space in mandis and many farmers have been waiting to get their wheat procured.
Urban mandis are the worst affected. Transporters have been getting inflated fares to ferry wheat from rural mandis and for them urban mandis are the least priority. In this light, commission agents or farmers have been left with no option but to make their own lifting arrangements.
Gopal Krishan, a Ferozepur-based commission agent, says though the permission to use the alreadyused gunny bags has eased out the situation, still more gunny bags are required to ensure a smooth procure- ment.
Harmail Singh of Situ Gunu village in Abohar says they have been sitting in mandis for the past five days but due to non-lifting of the already-procured wheat, they are unable to sell their wheat.
AS THE WHEAT ALREADY PROCURED HAS NOT BEEN LIFTED, FARMERS HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THEIR TURN TO SELL CROP
In the district, 53.1-lakh MT wheat has been procured so far while 2.35 lakh MT is lying in various grain markets to be lifted.
Ferozepur deputy commissioner Manjit Singh Narang says they are making all arrangements to ensure rapid lifting of wheat from the mandis while special trains have been arranged with the help of the Food Corporation of India to transport wheat directly from the grain markets to outside the state.
The deputy commissioner says the recent rain has hampered lifting in the area, but for now the arrival of wheat into the mandis has been reduced and in the next two to three days the situation will further ease out.
He adds that to avoid any loss due to rain, commission agents have been asked to arrange tarpaulins.