4,000 MT crop reaches mandis in dist

With the government procurement agencies starting procurement, the paddy crop has started arriving in markets of the district. District mandi officials said nearly 4,000 metric tonnes (MT) of crop had arrived in markets so far.

However, due to high moisture content in grains, the procurement was going on at slow place, they said. Agencies were not ready to purchase grains with more moisture than the permissible limit, they added. The Central Government had fixed 17 per cent moisture content as permissible limit for the procurement of paddy grains, they said.

District agriculture officials said most crop in the district was not yet ready for harvesting. They said harvesting would pick up pace after 10 days. Officials also appealed to farmers to bring fully ripened crop to markets so that it could be purchased on the same day.

District Mandi Officer Amandeep Singh said 50 procurement centres had been set up in the district. He said these mandis would become operational as soon as the crop starts arriving. He said all arrangements were in place at mandis and farmers would not face any problem while selling their produce.

Officials said 2,500 MT of paddy, which was maximum arrival of the crop, was witnessed in the Mehta area followed by Rayya and Majitha. The district administration also appealed to farmers to not use combine harvesters at night as it increased the moisture content in paddy grains.