Adverse weather hits wheat procurement in Sirmaur district

Pankaj Sharma

Nahan, May 1

Wheat procurement in Sirmaur district, one of the main wheat producing areas of Himachal Pradesh, faced a lot of challenges this year due to adverse weather conditions, resulting in a sharp drop in the yield compared to previous years.

The start of wheat procurement season, which is a crucial period for farmers in the region, has brought disappointment to farmers as unseasonal rains and bad weather disrupted wheat harvesting operations and transportation logistics. Farmers were seen struggling to harvest their wheat crop on time and transport it to grain markets.

The purchase price of Rs 2,275 per quintal of wheat is being offered by the State Food and Supplies Corporation, which is aimed at supporting local farmers and preventing them from seeking markets outside the state for wheat sale. However, delays caused by the bad weather adversely affected their efforts.

Reports from Paonta Sahib grain market and Dhaula Kuan grain market of Sirmaur district showed that there was a huge difference in the wheat procurement figures this year and the corresponding period last year. By the end of April 2023, 900 metric tonnes of wheat had been procured in Paonta Sahib, whereas this year only 428 metric tonnes were procured. Similarly, in Dhaula Kuan also, the purchase of wheat has come down from 533 metric tonnes last year to only 55 metric tonnes this year.

Ankush Thakur, in-charge of grain market in Paonta Sahib, and Govind, who oversees the mandi in Dhaula Kuan, said that adverse weather, especially hailstorms, had severely damaged wheat crops. Moreover, labour shortages due to the challenging weather prevented farmers from harvesting and delivering produce on time. This resulted in the State Food Supply Corporation rejecting damaged crops.

They added that the government had set a deadline of June 10 for wheat procurement, hoping that farmer participation would increase with possible improvement in weather conditions.

Both the market in-charges expressed hope that with the improvement in weather conditions, farmers would soon be able to bring their produce to grain markets, thereby completing wheat procurement before the deadline.