Chandigarh, April 27:
The arrival of wheat crossed 100 Lakh Metric Tons across the Mandis in the State today of which 99.5 LMT has already been purchased by the Government Agencies and private traders. About 3.5 LMT have been purchased by the traders while the rest has been picked up by the Government at MSP. Only 1 Lakh Metric Ton (LMT) was lying unpurchased by the end of the day today as it was yet to be cleaned.
Sharing these details the Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Minister, Lal Chand Kataruchak said that the procurement of wheat has entered its last phase today after it crossed the significant figure of 100 Lakh Tons already beating the entire procurement of last year, which stood at 96 LMT.
Comparing the arrivals with the previous year, the Minister Said that it was a matter of pride that once again Punjab was on top in feeding the nation, with almost 50% of the nationwide government purchase of wheat happening in the State. He added that this year the total government purchase at MSP is expected to be at least 30% more than last year which is an indication of increased prosperity in the state.
Expressing satisfaction at the pace of procurement, the Minister said that during the entire season, the end of day unpurchased quantity of wheat was never more than 50% of that day’s arrival ,which clearly pointed to the fact that most farmers were able to sell their wheat on the same day they brought it into the Mandi.
On the issue of lifting, the Minister said that this year 100 LMT of wheat has arrived in the Mandis in just 15 days whereas last year, by the same date, 94 LMT had arrived in 22 days. As such there was bound to be a stress on the limited labour and transport resources in the State. However, he said that lifting is an internal issue of the procurement agencies and it has, in no way on any day, affected the farmer, whose wheat has been promptly purchased and paid for. Currently, in most of the districts the pace of lifting is now more than the pace of arrival of wheat so there is nothing to worry about, he added.
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