B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Slow lifting of wheat chokes mandis
Muktsar, April 26
The lifting of wheat in the local grain market and at other purchase centres of the district is going at a slow speed, thereby choking the mandis. The condition has worsened to such an extent that the weighing, cleaning and filling of wheat in gunny bags are now being done on roads.
An unlifted wheat stock at the grain market in Muktsar on Thursday. A Tribune photograph

Fazilka farmers battle problems galore
Fazilka, April 26
There is a glut like situation in the Fazilka grain market. A relatively prolonged spell of winter this year led to high yield of wheat in the Fazilka area and consequently, heavy arrival in the grain market. And with slow lifting of wheat and undeclared power cuts, the farmers and the commission agents are finding themselves at the receiving end.

Cheema reviews procurement in Bathinda
Bathinda, April 26
Special principal secretary to the chief minister, KJS Cheema, took stock of the wheat procurement process in Bathinda’s grain markets today. He said farmers would not have to face any problem during the procurement season. At the grain markets in Bathinda, Kotshamir and Talwandi Sabo, he listened to the problems of farmers, commission agents and the employees of the grain markets.

The special principal secretary to the CM, KJS Cheema, takes stock of wheat procurement at the grain market in Bathinda on Thursday. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

Farmers advised to prepare wheat seed at home
Moga, April 26
The Agriculture Department has appealed to the farmers to prepare their own wheat seed for the next season instead of shelling out money to obtain it from outside agencies. Moga agriculture development officer Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar is going from village to village these days to educate farmers on selecting quality grains from their produce for seeds. He is also sensitising them to better post-harvest techniques and scientific storage of seeds.

Agriculture development officer Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar educating farmers on how to choose best grains for preparing wheat seed, at the government seed farm in Raonta village of Moga district. Photo by writer

Six shopkeepers booked for tampering with IMEI numbers of cellphones
Ferozepur, April 26
The police has booked six telecom and mobile shop owners, who were allegedly involved in changing the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers of mobile sets that were being used by anti-social elements to escape the police net.

 Slow lifting of wheat chokes mandis
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, April 26
The lifting of wheat in the local grain market and at other purchase centres of the district is going at a slow speed, thereby choking the mandis. The condition has worsened to such an extent that the weighing, cleaning and filling of wheat in gunny bags are now being done on roads.

At the local grain market, a number of farmers complained that they had been waiting for the lifting of their crop for the last two to four days so that they could bring in some more stock.

Ravinder Singh, a farmer, said, “The weather is unfavourable and the lifting of wheat is too slow. Though the administration has assured us a number of times that they would speed up the work, the progress is on the contrary.”

As per the official records procured from the local grain market office, 1,79,076 metric tonnes (MT) of wheat stock was yet to be lifted from the mandis in the district. Only 81,581 MT of wheat had been lifted since the procurement began on April 1. Till date, nearly 2,60,657 MT has been purchased by the government agencies out of the total arrival of 3,03,107 MT.

Meanwhile, KJS Cheema, special principal secretary to the Chief Minister, today visited the grain markets in the district and assured the farmers that the wheat would be purchased within 24 hours of its arrival and the payment to the farmers would be made in the next 24 hours.

Further, the crop would be lifted within 72 hours of its arrival in mandis.

Cheema also cancelled the licence of a commission agent at Malout for dereliction of duty. Before leaving, Cheema also directed the district administration to expedite the lifting of wheat.

Earlier, Deputy Commissioner Paramjit Singh appointed 17 supervisors to oversee the purchasing and lifting process of wheat at all mandis in the district.

 Fazilka farmers battle problems galore
Praful Chander Nagpal

Fazilka, April 26
There is a glut like situation in the Fazilka grain market. A relatively prolonged spell of winter this year led to high yield of wheat in the Fazilka area and consequently, heavy arrival in the grain market. And with slow lifting of wheat and undeclared power cuts, the farmers and the commission agents are finding themselves at the receiving end.

According to the official figures available, the arrival of 12,02,442 quintals has been recorded in the Fazilka grain market and its 26 purchase centres, so far. Only 4,10,600 quintals have been lifted so far leaving behind huge piles of wheat in the grain market. “We expect an arrival of about 27,60,000 quintals this year,” hoped Fazilka Market Committee secretary Vijay Madaan.

The produce has filled up every nook and corner, roads, entry and exit points. A crowded grain market is affecting the movement of vehicular traffic.

“Frequent power cuts have further increased the problem of sifting and stitching, resulting in further delay in lifting the produce,” alleged Aarhtiya Association president Shree Niwas Bihani.

“We have to camp on our wheat heaps till it is procured,” resented Suresh Kumar, a farmer from Sabuana village who brought four tractor-trolley-loads of wheat today.

“The administration should initiate the necessary steps for speedy lifting of the procured wheat,” demanded another farmer, Boota Ram of Lalowali village who brought two wheat-laden tractor-trolleys.

There is yet another problem of gunny bags. “The quality of empty bags being supplied by the Punjab Government is of poor quality. Further, the gunny bags being underweight, cause damage to the produce,” alleged Bihani and Sachdeva. Suspecting embezzlement in purchasing of gunny bags, they have demanded a probe into it.

Amidst the problems, there is a silver lining. The payment process is smooth and brisk.

  Cheema reviews procurement in Bathinda

Bathinda, April 26
Special principal secretary to the chief minister, KJS Cheema, took stock of the wheat procurement process in Bathinda’s grain markets today. He said farmers would not have to face any problem during the procurement season.

At the grain markets in Bathinda, Kotshamir and Talwandi Sabo, he listened to the problems of farmers, commission agents and the employees of the grain markets.

In Bathinda district, from April 17 till now, 3 lakh metric tonne (MT) of wheat arrival has been recorded, of which 2,80,000 MT has been procured, which is 95 percent of the total arrival, said Cheema, adding that 8 lakh MT wheat was expected in district’s grain markets this season.

He claimed that lifting of procured crop is being ensured in 72 hours and farmers would not face any shortage of gunny bags. Considering the lifting problem at Kotshamir, he directed that more trucks be deployed there.

At Talwandi Sabo, a farmer complained that officials of the procuring agency refused to buy his produce saying that it had high moisture content. Cheema got the moisture content checked twice on the spot. He directed that one more agency be deputed for procurement at Maur.

Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav, ADC Rajiv Prashar, district mandi officer Gursewak Singh Sidhu and district food supplies officer Gulbahar Singh accompanied Cheema. — TNS

 Farmers advised to prepare wheat seed at home
Kulwinder Sandhu/TNS

Moga, April 26
The Agriculture Department has appealed to the farmers to prepare their own wheat seed for the next season instead of shelling out money to obtain it from outside agencies.

Moga agriculture development officer Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar is going from village to village these days to educate farmers on selecting quality grains from their produce for seeds. He is also sensitising them to better post-harvest techniques and scientific storage of seeds.

Harvesting was crucial for producing quality seeds, said Brar, adding that the wheat crop from a good quality plot should be harvested separately to prepare the seed to get more yield.

The crop should be harvested at optimum maturity with less humidity content in the grains, he advised. Brar said early harvesting with more humidity content robbed the seeds of its germination ability while late harvesting raised the chances of fungi attack. Therefore, harvesting the crop for seed purpose should be done at the right time, he said.

In the past few days, the agriculture development officer gave a practical idea on optimum harvesting of wheat for preparing seed at the government seed farm in Raonta village. Besides, he also educated farmers in Tarewala, Sandhwan, Rode, Badhni Kalan, Kokri Phoola Singh and many other villages.

He asked the farmers to choose the best quality of crop from their plots and remove weeds and disease-affected plants before going for harvesting for preparing the seed. “Manual harvesting should be done to prepare own seeds so as to prevent the mixing of other varieties,” he said.

On proper storage, Brar said the harvested seeds should be cleaned properly and dried in sunshine to bring down the moisture content under 12 per cent to avoid fungi attack, better storage and germination.

The farmers should also remove the broken and damaged seeds before storage. They should treat the seeds with an insecticide and store it in airtight containers or new gunny bags.

The seeds should be kept in a cool place, away from direct light and humidity, he added.

 Six shopkeepers booked for tampering with IMEI numbers of cellphones
Our Correspondent

Ferozepur, April 26
The police has booked six telecom and mobile shop owners, who were allegedly involved in changing the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers of mobile sets that were being used by anti-social elements to escape the police net.

Giving the details here, SSP Hardial Singh Mann said the police had got information that some mobile shop owners were involved in tampering with the IMEI numbers of mobile sets by using certain computer softwares to allegedly facilitate the nefarious designs of anti-social agents.

The SSP said being a border town, there was a lurking threat from such elements who pose grave danger to the security of the nation as many a times, spies and drug peddlers had been caught in the area.

Mann further said following the tip-off, cops in civil clothes were sent to the suspected outlets in the cantonment where the shop owners allegedly agreed to change the IMEI at the cost of Rs 300 per set. He said two such mobile shop owners were arrested. Besides, computers and computer softwares (spiderman and dragon) used for the purpose were also confiscated.

The SSP said four other persons had also been booked on similar charges in Mamdot and Guruharsahai areas.

The erring mobile outlets have been identified as the Shiv Sankar Electricals and the Sharma Telecom in Ferozepur; the Sachdeva Telecom and the Laddi Watch House in Mamdot; and the Sunny Telecom and the Guru Teg Bahadur Mobile Shop in Guruharsahai.