Just 1% of wheat crop on 2.45 lakh hectares harvested in Ludhiana district

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, April 16

In what appears to be the outcome of the inclement weather conditions, the harvesting of wheat crop has not yet picked up pace even a fortnight after the official procurement of the rabi crop had begun on April 1 and two days after Baisakhi, the festival of harvest, in Ludhiana.

The delay in the wheat harvest could be gauged from the fact that just 1 per cent of the total wheat sown over 2,45,200 hectares of area has been harvested in the state’s biggest and largest district till Tuesday.

The recent rainfall and low temperatures continuing for the past several days were cited as the main reasons for the delay in wheat harvesting by agricultural experts.

However, the yield of wheat has gone up by almost 10 per cent this season as compared to the previous year, the official figures have revealed. From 4,591 kg per hectare in 2022-23, the wheat yield this season has touched 5,000 kg per hectare, which will lead to 12.26 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of crop production in the district this year.

The harvesting of mustard, another rabi crop, was, however, is in full swing these days with over 75 per cent of the crop sown over 2,600 hectares already harvested in the district till this Tuesday.

The yield of mustard has also increased from 1,916 kg per hectare last season to 1,950 kg per hectare this year, which is expected to result in the production of 5 LMT of the crop in the district this season.

On the procurement front, only 2,154 MT of wheat had arrived at mandis (grain markets) across 13 market committees in the district till last evening. Of this as well, 653 MT of the stock was lying unsold due to higher moisture content in the mandis.

This season’s wheat arrival was even less than 4 per cent of the 55,755 MT of the crop that had arrived at the mandis in the district during the corresponding period last year.

The official figures compiled by the Agriculture Department, a copy of which is with The Tribune, showed that 3,009 hectares, which accounted for 1.2 per cent of the total 2,45,200 hectares of wheat crop, has been harvested in the district so far.

The block-wise harvest figures revealed that 272 of the total 13,600 hectares of wheat has been harvested in the Ludhiana block, 310 of 31,000 hectares in Mangat, 212 of 21,200 hectares in Pakhowal, 138 of 27,600 hectares in Jagraon, 302 of 30,200 hectares in Sidhwan Bet, 139 of 27,700 hectares in Sudhar, 370 of 18,500 hectares in Khanna, 203 of 20,300 hectares in Dehlon, 96 of 19,200 hectares in Doraha, 372 of 12,400 hectares in Samrala and 235 of the total 23,500 hectares of wheat crop sown in the Machhiwara block has been harvested till Tuesday.

When it comes to procurement, not even a single grain of wheat has yet arrived at any of the mandis in three market committees (Doraha, Hathur and Kila Raipur) while 243 MT of the crop has yet arrived at Jagraon, 1,020 MT at Khanna, 197 MT at Ludhiana, 251 MT at Machhiwara, 50 MT at Maloud, 85 MT at Mullanpur Dakha, 55 MT at Raikot, 86 MT at Sahnewal, 110 MT at Samrala and 58 MT of wheat has arrived at grain markets under the Sidhwan Bet market committee as yet.

Of the total arrivals so far, government agencies have procured 402 MT while private ones have purchased 1,099 MT of wheat, which was 70 per cent of the total 2,154 MT arrivals, leaving 653 MT, which accounted for 30 per cent of the total stocks, unsold.

While 934 MT of the procured wheat has already been lifted from the mandis, the rest 567 MT of the purchased grains, which accounted for 38 per cent of the total purchased wheat, was still lying in the grain markets.

The maximum price that the procured wheat has fetched was Rs 2,285 per quintal while Rs 2,275 per quintal has so far remained the minimum sale price in the district.

On the mustard front, 1,950 of the total 2,600 hectares of the crop has been harvested in the district so far.

The block-wise mustard harvest figures revealed that 140 of 175 hectares crop has already been harvested in Ludhiana block, 196 of 280 hectares in Mangat, 113 of 150 hectares in Pakhowal, 160 of 200 hectares in Jagraon, 304 of 380 hectares in Sidhwan Bet, 281 of 330 hectares in Sudhar, 183 of 203 hectares in Khanna, 163 of 204 hectares in Dehlon, 125 of 178 hectares in Doraha, 128 of 150 hectares in Samrala and 105 of the total 305 hectares of mustard has been harvested in the Machhiwara block so far.

Will procure each grain: DC

“I have been reviewing the ongoing wheat procurement on a daily basis and have ensured smooth and hassle-free purchase and lifting of the grain arriving at mandis. All arrangements have been made to facilitate visiting farmers at the grain markets and we are committed to purchasing each and every grain arriving at our mandis with timely payments to peasants,” Sakshi Sawhney, DC, said.

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