Wheat procurement to begin on Friday but grain arrival delayed

Procurement of wheat in Punjab and Haryana will commence officially on Friday (April 10) even though the arrival of wheat grains in bulk quantity could take place only after one week.

The procurement of wheat in Punjab, which normally begins on April 1, was postponed by 10 days with unseasonal rains affecting the standing crop in both states.

"The procurement begins officially from tomorrow (Friday) but bulk of the grain will arrive after April 13," Harbans Singh Rosha, president of the Arhtiya Association at Khanna grain market, the biggest grain market in Asia, told IANS.

Harvesting of wheat has been affected in several parts of Haryana and Punjab after both states experienced rainfall, strong winds and hailstorms in March and early April.

Farmers have been bearing the brunt of unseasonal rain since last month claimed that their crop was badly affected.

Authorities in Punjab and Haryana, the food grain states of the country, are expecting a dip of up to 10 percent in wheat output this season.

However, Harbans Singh said that the damage to the crop was not as big this time.

"It (procurement) will be slightly less. But there won't be any big difference," he said.

The Haryana government has directed revenue officials to conduct 'girdawri' (loss assessment of crops) due to the recent rainfall.

The damage to crops in the state is expected to be nearly 30 percent, officials said. In many areas, the strong winds and hailstorms flattened the standing crop.

"The moisture content in the grains will be higher due to the rains and procurement agencies will have to relax norms to help farmers," said farmer Zile Singh of Chunni village, 35 km from Chandigarh.

The food and supplies authorities in both states are likely to revive procurement targets depending on wheat arrival.

The Reserve Bank of India has sanctioned nearly Rs.16,000 crore to Punjab and over Rs.10,000 crore to Haryana for wheat procurement.