Ludhiana, March 26
In compliance with the directions of Mr Anurag Aggarwal, Deputy Commissioner, the Food and Supplies Department today launched an awareness drive for farmers at Jagraon Mandi in this district.
Besides, Mr Ram Sarup and Mr Jhanji, presidents of the Arhtiya Association of Ludhiana and Jagraon, respectively, a large number of farmers and arhtiyas, as well as representatives of the procurement agencies attended the meeting.
Officials of the Food and Supplies Department during interaction with the farmers, advised them to harvest the wheat crop when it was fully ripe and to avoid harvesting during night, especially with the help of harvester combines, which tended to increase the moisture level in the crop. The crop with high moisture content created problems both for the farmers and the procurement agencies, with the sale being delayed and the producers having to suffer avoidable harassment.
The farmers were further asked to bring the grain fully dried and cleaned to the purchase centres. A poster in Punjabi, with detailed instructions for farmers to bring clean and dried wheat crop to the mandis, was also released on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Parveen Vij, District Food and Supplies Controller, informed that the procurement agencies were all set to start procurement from April 1 and all necessary arrangements were in place in all mandis and purchase centres in the district.
